Star Fox: Exchange Student
by XxSanitariumxX
Summary: A young human teen is sent to Corneria to attend Roswell High in hopes to shed a little light upon whether or not humans and Cornerians can coexist. But with a guy like Relics as the exchange student, there are sure to be some kinks to that plan.
1. First Period of the Day

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ This is by far, my most favorite fan fic I've written. It's a story of many things, humor, action, romance, suspense, cliffhangers galore! Recently I've gone back and re-edited it but nothing crucial has changed. Rather, it was just a quick polish job that makes it all the better in the end for new readers, and repeat readers. _**

**_I hope you enjoy this story as much, if not, more than I enjoyed writing it. _**

**_Also, I do not own Star Fox or anything else that happens to be copyrighted to someone/something else._**

* * *

It was the single most terrifying experience of the young man's life. The people around him stared, the people gawked, the people whispered and they pointed at the alien walking down their school's halls.

As the boy passed a group of felines he heard them say every word in hushed whispers like he would if they would have said it normally.

"That's him isn't it?"

"Of course that's him!"

"He looks so strange! But not bad looking."

"You whore! Don't you know humans have diseases and-"

"I meant his clothes!"

"Sure you did."

'_I wish they wouldn't stare.'_ The human thought as he walked down the Cornerian high school halls. He was extremely tense and on alert if the smallest thing was to attack. He had been living on Corneria for about two weeks but he'd holed up at the apartment the Cornerian government was providing. They also provided food, clothing, and a decent living allowance in case he wanted to go out and explore (which he didn't).

The human was dressed in a black T-shirt with blue Cornerian designs on it, slacks for pants, nice fresh off the shelves running black shoes with black under padded socks, his lucky green underwear and by requirements a black leather collar around his neck. The human's hair was freshly cut and one inch short, combed back and held there with just enough gel but most people who saw his hair thought he was old because of how white it was. His hair was bleach white but he never bleached it or tried to alter its color, it was just naturally white due to some "modifications."

For the human it was easy discerning males from females because thankfully their bodies were exactly like a homo-sapiens's body save the fur, scales, feathers, hands and feet. Cornerian feet were more animal depending on their species. If the Cornerian was an amphibian he/she had more webbed feet, if avian, more birdlike feet, and if mammal their feet looked more like which mammal they were. These same rules applied to their hands and whether or not they had tails.

"Dude where do you think his tail is?"

"Humans don't have tails idiot!"

"Well what about ears then?"

"Those things on the side of his head obviously!"

'_Well at least they got my ears right.'_ The human thought as he came to the door he was looking for.

"Oh shit! That's my class!"

"Lucky you, find out as much you can about it!"

'_This is going to be a long term.'_ The human thought to himself.

As soon as the human stepped into the room it fell deathly silent. The people who had shown up just a little bit early were now shocked to find the human exchange student standing in their first period classroom.

'_Stay calm, they aren't going to attack you. Just stay calm Fo-'_

"Um hello, are you in the right class?" An elderly weasel asked nervously. The human stared at the weasel before he nodded. "Um, very well then. You are the human exchange student correct?"

'_No, I'm the Martian exchange student… jackass.'_ The human thought to himself. Instead of coming off rude the human just nodded again.

"I see… well take a seat wherever."

'_God damn it! Now I have to walk around like an idiot in front of most of the class, look for a seat and hopefully not freak anyone out!'_ The human thought as he nodded and went to take an empty seat. _'Stupid lazy bastard. Can't even make a ridiculous seating chart.'_ The human thought as he took a desk in the far left corner, far away from most everybody but close enough to the door in case he needed to break and run for it.

The room never flared up again but a number of people whispered about him.

"Man that guy's freaky."

"Shut up Jake he might hear us!"

"With those ears? I doubt he hears me now." A golden yellow Labrador said a bit louder. When the human made no response the canine said. "See? Deaf as an old tortoise."

'_I can hear you as clear as day dumbass.'_ The human thought to himself.

More and more people piled in and more and more staring eyes came focused in on the human. And like the group of two canines, one feline and one fox they all started to whisper about him. Everyone began to sit down but there was an open seat on every side of the human that had a desk, west, northwest, and north.

"What do you think his name is?"

"How would I know?

"Maybe we should ask him?"

"I ain't askin' him!"

"You go do it!"

"No you!"

'_Just send someone and get it over with for the LOVE OF GOD!' _The human thought to himself. He hated being on display like this and wished someone would just break the ice and get it out of everyone's system.

"Look how grey his eyes are! They're like… clouds!"

"I know right? And look how round his pupils are, it's so freaky!"

'_I might just stab you in the eye in a minute.'_ The human thought bitterly towards the feline talking about his eyes.

"Okay someone seriously, go ask it what his name is!"

"No way man, you do it!"

"Alright fine, I will!"

'_Finally someone has the balls to- son of a…'_ The human thought as an orange vulpine who was about to walk over to him sat down because of the class starting bell.

The old weasel from before stood up in front of the class and very unlike a veteran teacher the he was, the old man was nervous. He was nervous because of the strange new face he'd most likely wind up staring at all year long.

"Um… good morning class, my name is Mr. Mackenzie and I will be your... physics teacher." The weasel said somewhat nervously.

'_He's probably nervous because he won't stop staring at me. Seriously! Look away!'_

"Now I like to start off every term with a short little interrogation you might say."

'_Oh please God, no!'_

"Now let's see… why don't we have our exchange student come right on up here first?" Mr. Mackenzie said and pointed out the human causing all eyes to fall on him.

'_Motherfucker!'_ The human thought to himself as he stood up and walked to the front of the class. He could literally feel the eyes of every single Cornerian burn into him. It was so uncomfortable but he had to do it anyways, that damn weasel threw him under the bus. When he got to the front of the class he took a deep breath before he began.

"My name is Fox McCloud; I'm from a colony planet of Earth out on the Rheine sector. That's pretty much it."

A chorus of whispers and murmurs coursed through the class and one brave vixen raised her hand. The human stared at her for a moment before pointing at her.

"I'm sorry did you say your name was, Fox McCloud?" The chestnut colored vixen asked, her ears were noticeably larger than average but they were very cute and would twitch and swivel around adorably.

"Yes I did." The human confirmed.

"You're kidding right?"

'_No I'm not kidding you stupid moron!'_ The human thought before asking. "No, why is that a problem?"

"No, it's just that… well… never mind-"

"There's someone else named Fox McCloud who goes to this school." A lynx who sat right next to the chestnut brown vixen. The lynx was a light brown color with black speckles and bright blue eyes.

"That is a problem… all right then just call me… Relics I guess." Relics said to the class and he heard someone in the back of the room say.

"Relics? What kind of stupid name is that?"

"It was my father's name before he was killed by Cornerian soldiers." Relics snapped at the monkey in the back of the room. All mouths, muzzles and beaks dropped especially the monkey's mouth.

"Whoa dude, I'm… sorry!" The monkey as the human's silver eyes bore into him with a blinding intensity of rage and hate. Everyone in the class were worried and some were terrified that the human was going to kill the simian in the back of the room. Only the clock above the classroom door dared to move as the seconds ticked away leading up to a full minute before the human responded.

"Accepted." Relics said calmly then looked at the weasel. "Can I sit back down now?"

"Um… yeah sure." Mr. Mackenzie said, his muzzle was also hanging.

'_That will teach him to keep his mouth shut….'_ Relics thought morbidly to himself as he walked back to his seat in the back of the room. When he took his seat Mr. Mackenzie moved on to the next person.

"Well do we have any volunteers to go next?"

The room was eerily silent as everyone was waiting for the human to snap and go on a murderous rampage any second now. Silence was long and awkward until finally from out of nowhere Relics sneezed. Several girls screamed and a frog or a toad fell out of his desk.

'_Wow, you all fail.' _Relics thought to himself before apologizing. "Sorry, it's probably my allergies."

'_It was probably because of all this animal dander.'_

"Um, bless you Relics." Mr. Mackenzie said and flattened out his grey fur. "Alright then how about Miyu, you can go next."

Miyu let out a sigh and stood up before the whole class.

"Hey everyone, name's Miyu Seraph. As some of you know I'm going steady with… the other Fox McCloud for awhile now-"

"Get over yourself!" Fara groaned making some people snicker.

"Don't be jealous Fara, you had your-" Miyu began but Mr. Mackenzie interrupted.

"Miss Seraph if you would get back to your introduction."

"Okay fine. Anyways, I'm sixteen, I just moved here from Macbeth with my mom and dad, hence the accent."

'_I was wondering why you sounded French.'_

"Other than that I like techno-"

'_Ugh! Techno? It's bad enough I had to listen to that garbage back home everywhere I went!' _Relics thought to himself.

"-and I also like to ride horses."

'_Wait horses? What in the world is she talking about?' _Relics thought as the lynx sat down.

"Very good Miyu… anyone else? Alright I guess you can go now Fara." Mr. Mackenzie said calling on the chestnut vixen who seemed very eager to go.

'_Oh great here we go.'_ Relics thought dully and rolled his eyes.

"Hi everybody, I'm Fara Phoenix daughter of William Phoenix, head of Phoenix corp. Anyways I'd like everyone to know that if Miyu wasn't such a conniving _sphinx_ I'd be going out with Fox and-"

'_Are they really this open about personal issues? And are they actually friends or are they just feigning to be?'_ Relics wondered to himself.

"Miss Phoenix could you please leave your love life out of your introduction? Thank you." Mr. Mackenzie interrupted.

"Yes sir. Anyways, I like driving, sports, and sixth period." Fara said and got a lot of positive response for that last comment mainly from the guys.

'_I wonder what that meant. What's sixth period?' _Relics wondered as another Cornerian stood up to give his quick introduction. _'Oh God just kill me now!'_


	2. Making Friends

The first class of the day finally ended and the human was out the door before anyone else even grabbed their bags. Just like back in human schools, the first day of school was always the stupid, "hey let's get to know each other even though by the end of the month we'll just be wasting time and will have forgotten and formed our own little clicks!" All they did in physics was sit around and talk, mainly about Relics while he stayed secluded. People tried to get others to get up and talk to him but no one really wanted to out of fear.

As Relics walked down the hallways of the school even more people were staring at him and apparently everything that happened had already shifted from his class to the entire school.

'_Maybe that's why a lot of people would try to hide those devices under their desks? They might be cell phones and like the people back home all these Cornerians can't get away from them!'_

"I heard his name's Fox McCloud! Can you believe that? I mean, what are the odds?"

"Didn't he say to call him something else?"

"Yeah I think so but I can't remember, let me check my messages."

_'Yup, cell phones. I wonder if they know that they'll get tumors in their brains for using them all the time like half of Earth's population did?'_

The layout of the school was extremely simple at Roswell High. There were three buildings, A building where all the class rooms were, B building which was the gym and something else, and then there was C building, the lunchroom. Relics dreaded lunch time; everyone would make it uncomfortable to eat the crap they serve. Relics had had Cornerian food before, but to him it was nasty. He preferred human food far above Cornerian food because human food was often as bland looking as oatmeal but as tasty as a chilly cheese dog while Cornerian food looked so strange.

'_Mm chilly cheese dog MRE's.'_ Relics thought when he saw a swine walk down the halls opposite of him. _'No, no! Cornerians are friends, not… well look at that tasty looking bugger! No! Stop it! You just ate some of that… delicious… Cornerian home cooking.' _Relics said and nearly gagged. Who eats bacon, eggs, pancakes and sausage links in their solid state anymore? He certainly didn't, give him some manufactured paste replicas and he was set for life.

"I heard his father was killed by one of our soldiers!"

'_That's right jackass, gunned down right in front of me.' _Relics thought bitterly to himself.

"He must be mistaken."

'_It's kind of hard to confuse you damn dirty apes with a human. Oh thank God, finally.'_ Relics thought when he came to his next class. Like before the teacher approached him just a bit nervously.

"Um hello, you're the human exchange student right?"

'_Okay, I'm really concerned about the quality of these teachers if they have to keep asking me that question.'_

"Yes I am." Relics replied.

"I see… and your name?" The white swan asked holding up a notepad and pen.

"Fox McCloud but Relics is fine." Relics said and watched the white swan write things down. _'Maybe this one has a seating arrangement?'_

"Right well sit wherever you like, no seating arrangements here."

'_Yup, I'm really concerned about the quality of these instructors.' _Relics thought as he went to take a seat in the corner again. Cornering yourself is bad but he didn't want to be in the middle of the Cornerian hordes because then an attack could come from any direction.

"Dude go over and talk to it!"

"Oh Hell no! Look at him! He might bite or something." 

'_Yeah I'll bite your mama.'_

"Oh come on, that's racist!"

"Don't you mean specist… I think? He is a different species after all."

'_I swear to God I'm going to break that toad's and that falcon's necks if they don't shut up!'_

"Bah! Whatever, I'll go do it ya friggen pansies."

Out of the peripheral of his vision Relics saw a grey pitbull get out of his chair and walk over in his direction. Just in case Relics had a sharpened pencil in his pocket but that would not be enough. A lot of the Cornerians were dangerous, especially the wolf's and felines who had razor sharp fangs and claws. Still, a pitbull might not be as dangerous.

"Hey there, what's up?" The pitbull asked as he walked right up to Relics' desk. Everyone was now staring at the pitbull and the human which only made Relics wish more and more that he wore a long sleeved shirt so he could have hidden the sharpened pencil in the sleeve.

"Sup?" Relics replied.

"Meh, not much…." The pitbull responded rather casually. "My name's William but everyone calls me Bill for short." The pitbull said holding out a paw.

"Fox McCloud, but Relics is fine." Relics said taking the paw. The pitbull's paw felt just like a dog's pads on the bottom of its paw.

'_Weird.'_

"So um… how do you like it here so far?" Bill asked.

'_Well apart from the fact that this school smells like a zoo...' _

"It's pretty cool here. A lot of new and… interesting things." Relics said despite what he was thinking.

"You speak my language pretty well for a human." The pitbull said with a sheepish grin.

Relics smiled "Yeah well, technology is a big help." Relics said showing Bill the brace on his left wrist.

"Oh a translator huh? Does it do anything else?" Bill asked taking an interest in the wrist com.

"It's supposed to make calls but I wasn't shown how." Relics explained.

"Oh that's simple, here let me see." Bill said and without asking he took Relics' wrist. Relics' other hand went into his pocket and clenched the sharpened pencil in his pocket.

"You just open this little flap," Bill said opening the flap on the anterior of the wrist communicator "type in the number" Bill said as he typed in a long fourteen digit number, seconds later something began to chirp. Bill then opened the flap to his wrist com and pressed a button. "Can you hear me now?"

Relics smiled and spoke into the wrist com "Thanks Bill."

"No problem my friend from across the universe." Bill said as the bell rang. "Well I got to sit down now; I don't want to tick off a weapons specialist."

"See ya Bill." Relics said as Bill went to go sit back down with the falcon and the green toad.

"Good morning class, how's first day going for everyone?" The swan asked as she sat on her desk and folded her legs.

'_Okay that's a little odd.' _Relics thought to himself when he realized that the swan instructor was wearing a mini skirt and if he looked really closely he could almost see up it. _'Eww!'_

"Pretty good Miss Kensington." Bill said cheerfully.

"Is that because you made another friend, Billy?" The swan cooed.

"You guessed it!" Bill chuckled and scratched behind his left ear nervously.

Ms. Kensington's feathers ruffled a bit. Relics was taught that most avian species ruffle their feathers in certain ways to express emotions since they had hardly and facial expressions to go off of with those beaks. Her feathers were close together and bushed up a bit which implied she was humored.

"Well as long as you, Falco and Slippy don't taint him like you did Fox, that's a good thing."

"Hey! Fox was a screwball before we met him." Bill laughed as did parts of the class.

_'Fox… Fox… you mean the guy with the same name as me? Wouldn't it be ironically stupid if he was a fox?'_ Relics thought.

"Anyways before we begin today's lesson I'd like to call on a few people to say a few things about themselves then do a couple rounds of quick Q and A. And why don't we have the exchange student go first?"

'_Motherfucker! Motherfucker! MOTHERFUCKER!' _Relics raged in his head but stood up anyways.

"Hi, my names Fox McCloud but Relics is fine by me." Relics said then looked at the swan to see if he was done but apparently he wasn't. "I came from a planet in the Rheine sector and I don't know where to go from there."

Ms. Kensington nodded. "Alright do we have any questions-" She said just as the entire class erupted.

"Do humans eat their own young?"

"What do humans do for fun?"

"Are you here to probe us and steal our women like that one movie?"

"Why are you wearing a collar?"

"Don't you have any fur, or feathers? Maybe scales on your back?"

"Class settle down!" Miss Kensington said calmly and almost immediately everyone was quiet.

'_She must be one Hell of a teacher or on mean weapons specialist. I think I might like this class if I get to learn more about their weaponry.'_ Relics thought to himself.

"Now one at a time and wait for him to call on you." Ms. Kensington sighed.

One of each pair of hands darted up and since Relics wasn't about to blow off the first person who had made an impression on him Relics chose the pitbull.

"Yeah I heard a rumor that humans don't lick themselves clean… is that true?" Bill asked.

For some reason a lot of people laughed at his question. "Um no we don't lick ourselves clean."

"Gotcha." Bill said and lowered his hand.

'_Okay then…'_ Relics thought then chose the next person, an orange feline with yellow eyes.

"I was told some humans are revered higher than all the rest because their genes are altered… is that true?" The feline asked as her tail twitched with nervous excitement.

"Some humans are genetically advanced yes." Relics replied. He wasn't allowed to give more information then necessary but several humans have been recorded on film dodging laser bolts so no harm admitting it now.

"Are you altered?"

"Sorry Tracy only one question per person." Ms. Kensington said before Relics could say yes.

_'In more ways than one baby.' _Relics thought then chose a green gecko.

"Hi, I was wondering what do humans eat?"

"Well we eat food tubes and MRE's mainly. They're like your food only in tubes and are dried so that way they don't expire, ever." Relics replied. _'And they taste far better than your bland meals I'll tell you that much.'_

"One last question before we move on to someone else." Ms. Kensington said before laying down on her desk. Thankfully her legs were still crossed.

'_It's like she's completely oblivious. Either that or she wants the guys to pay attention in class. It might have worked on me if she were human but if you ask me, Cornerians are just a little too close for home for me to want to get intimate with one. Imagine doing it with a cat! That's disgusting!' _Relics thought as he selected a Golden Sheppard.

"What do humans do for fun?" the canine asked.

'_Masturbate.' _Relics thought humorously to himself. _'Oh boy if I said half the things I've thought up to this point, no one would like me… at all.'_

"Well like Cornerians, humans like to play sports, play games, music-"

"Do you play music Relics?" Ms. Kensington asked from her awkward position on the desk.

"Yes I play an instrument called a guitar-"

"Really? Do you play it well?"

'_Like a motherfucking riot!'_

"Kind of." Relics admitted.

"Hmm." Ms. Kensington hummed to herself and Relics could already tell what was on her mind.

'_Oh God please don't ask me that, please don't ask me that, please don't ask me that, please don't ask me that!' _Relics mentally prayed.

"I'm rather interested in this… _guitar_ thing. Did you perchance bring one with you?"

"Yes." Relics begrudgingly admitted even though he could easily have lied about it.

"Well do you think you could bring it in tomorrow and show us what a… _guitar _is? Perhaps even play a little for us?"

'_Well that is just fan-fucking-tastic!'_

"Sure." Relics said against his better judgment.

'_What are you doing? You ass! This is stressful enough as it is! …ASS!' _Relics scorned himself mentally.

"Great! Now for the next person." Ms. Kensington said cheerfully.

'_What have I gotten myself into?'_

-X-X-X-X-

"Relics! Hey! RELICS!"

The human turned around in the middle of the hallway to find the same pitbull from before following him. Behind the pitbull were the blue falcon and the green toad. For some reason Relics didn't feel very threatened when they approached him.

"Yeah?" Relics asked eyeing the three for any hostile signs or gestures.

"Where you off to in such a hurry man? Lunch is this way!" Bill said cheerfully.

"But isn't it third period?" Relics asked.

"Nah man, third period is after lunch on Mondays." The falcon squawked.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot, this is Falco and Slippy." Bill said introducing the avian and the amphibian.

"Sup." Falco said offering a hand. Relics took it and nodded. As the falcon squeezed his hand Relics realized that he wasn't as strong as the pitbull but was still pretty formidable. The pitbull on the other hand looked like he could crush Relics if he wanted to as he was yoked like an amateur body builder. The toad on the other hand was more portly and looked like he didn't hit the gym or wherever Cornerians worked out.

When Falco and Relics were done testing each other's strength it was the amphibian's turn.

"Hello, nice to meet you." The toad said while beaming.

'_Dude, his mouth! It's huge!'_

"Likewise." Relics responded.

"Hey listen I got to ask, what's with the Suppressor around your neck?" Slippy asked but kept his tone down so that the staring bystanders passing by wouldn't hear.

"Suppressor? Is that what that is? I thought it was a fashion thing back where he came from." Bill practically shouted, ruining Slippy's attempt at being discreet.

"Yeah Bill that's a Suppressor." Slippy scowled.

'_Just tell the whole world guys.'_

"Why would you need one of those on?" Falco asked as he squinted at the human.

Relics looked around as if someone was watching them (which everyone was).

"Can you guys keep a secret?" Relics whispered. All three Cornerians leaned in expectantly. "This Suppressor keeps me under control so I can't execute the greatest extent of my abilities. If I were to take it off it would cut my jugulars giving me less than two minutes to live."

The three Cornerians stared at him wide eyed until the human cracked up laughing.

"_Or_ it could very well be a fashion thing back where I came from."

A small smile curled its way up Bill's muzzle. "Cheeky bastard! He was just pulling our legs! I like this guy already." Bill laughed as his tail fanned everyone behind him vigorously. Falco seemed a little hesitant at first but then he also started to laugh. Slippy on the other hand was skeptical and managed a chuckle at best.

"Come on Relics let's go get some food!" Bill said wrapping his arm around Relics' shoulder ultimately forcing him to walk with them.

"Okay." Relics said, his hand back in his pocket, clutching the sharp pencil just in case.


	3. Girls

'_This is just strange.'_ Relics thought to himself as he looked over the food before him. These Cornerians were about as technologically advanced (give or take a few aspects here and there) as humans but they still ate food in non-paste form which was not nearly as nutritious as the manufactured food Relics was used to. Hamburgers, hotdogs, corndogs, spaghetti and burritos were all lined up in the long serving counter. Not only was the food strange looking, but it looked exactly how food used to look on Earth and her colonies. The chances were impossibly high against such an occurrence yet somehow they pulled through.

'_Let's see what will make me puke less? Hamburger, burrito or some spaghetti?' _Relics wondered to himself as he quickly mulled the selections over in his head. He didn't want the hungry snaking line behind him to be held up on his account so he quickly chose a hamburger with melted yellow stuff on it. Having grown up on oatmeal paste like meals his entire life, Relics did not like Cornerian food one bit, not because of the taste but because of the texture. The sheer texture of Cornerian food was enough to drive Relics up a wall of disgust.

Quickly the pale human grabbed a hamburger and moved on down the line. The next step was to get through the cashier booths. There were four of them in all, all of which had equally long lines, robotic cashiers, and a sense of frustration around the lines. As Relics walked into the checkout line Bill was in, Bill immediately began to find fault with everything in the world.

"Can you believe these ancient cashier bots? They take forever to wring up an order and they always need you to punch in your number at least twice! Honestly could we just get some decent help around here? No! All the school's money goes to the latest textbooks! Couldn't they just spare a dime to either fixing or replacing these hunks of junk?" Bill ranted and when he finished they were only one step closer towards the front.

'_How bout a little cheese with that whine? You can have the cheese off my burger if it gets you to SHUT UP!' _Relics scowled. He hated when people vented on him. He didn't give a rip about other people's problems and yet it was complain, complain, complain and bitch, bitch, bitch. It wasn't likely he wouldn't make another friend at this rotten school so he might as well stick like glue to the first one he made and unfortunately that was Bill and his "lovable" friends Falco and Slippy who seemed determined to squabble constantly. Bill was okay but he was kind of childish and energetic. He reminded Relics of a puppy at heart that would always want to play no matter what kind of mood you were in.

"…But seriously though you are going to love or hate sixth period." Bill sighed as he reminisced.

"What do you mean? What's so great about sixth period?" Relics asked.

Bill grinned as the line moved forward. "He-he-he-he-he-he." Bill laughed. "Sorry buddy I can't tell the fresh meat."

Relics ground his teeth together. He didn't like that analogy especially when it came from an animal that could consider him a meal if he got hungry enough. Shrugging it off, Relics took another step forward as the line progressed slightly.

"So Relics what's it like back where you come from?" Bill asked as he once more tried to engage in small talk.

'_Well it used to be really nice until your kind bombed the crap out of where I lived you son of a bitch!'_

"It's alright." Relics said not letting on to what he thought. He wasn't usually this bitter but Cornerians were lodged deeply inside his "up yours pit."

"Yeah? What do you guys do and stuff sometimes?"

'…_What?'_

"Not much." Relics said as he took another step forward. Another few steps and he'd be able to pay for his food which was good as Bill was really starting to annoy Relics more than he scared him.

"That's cool." Bill sighed. "You know in P.E. we're going to play Pong. You wanna be on my team?"

"What's Pong?"

"Well Pong is where you bounce a large plastic ball around and score points against the other team." Bill explained but he had left out almost all the other details. Relics nodded and trailed off but a conversation about him caught his ear.

"Hey look over there, it's the human! I told you they were freaky looking!"

"Oh my God! They actually let it come to our school!?"

"Tell me about it! He looks like he's going to infect us all with some human plague. I mean look how white and pale he is."

Relics bit his lower lip when the two whispering Cornerians behind him stopped talking. It was like that everywhere he went. No one realized it but he could hear them as clearly as he could if they were yelling. "Um sure Bill… but tell me one thing."

"Sure what?" Bill asked.

"Why is it you seem to be the only one that isn't afraid of me?" Relics asked.

Bill looked forward. "I don't know, I guess you seem all right and not as intimidating to me. Hell you didn't bite my head off when we first met so why should I be afraid of you now?"

'_Damn I knew I should have done that.'_

"Listen Relics just give it some time; people will warm up to you and won't be so distant once they get used to you." Bill said as he stepped up to the cashier finally.

'_That's what I am afraid of.' _Relics thought darkly. If people began to fear him less and less than the chance of getting attacked was greater. He had seen Cornerians in action once and he lost a father that day.

"What!? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! ARGH! I JUST WANNA BITE SOMEONE IN THE FACE!" Bill shouted.

'_No! I need mine to be beautiful!'_

"What's wrong Bill?" Relics asked as Bill pounded his numbers in over and over again.

"This stupid robot! It's got the Blue Screen of Death!" Bill growled and eventually gave up. Everyone behind him and Relics began to groan. Now they had to jump over to the other lines and they were just as, if not longer than the one they were in now. As the students began to disperse Relics walked up to the humanoid robot.

"Let me take a look." Relics said as he stepped in front of Bill.

"You know stuff about our robots?" Bill gapped.

"Well not your robots but machines in general. Sometimes they just need a little love." Relics replied innocently as he put his plate of hamburger on the cashier's metal cash register podium like counter.

The students leaving and the students in the cafeteria were all surprised when they heard a loud BANG, BANG, BANG! Some recoiled in fear when they saw the human bash the robot in the chest three times and made three fist sized dents in the flimsy metal plating._'Falcon punch mother- oh hey it actually worked! Go figure.'_

"Please enter your -please- number please." The redundant robot said with a voice sounding remarkably like Microsoft Sam's voice.

Bill's muzzle hung like the catch of the day. "Dude! What did you do!?"

"Showed it some tender loving compassion." Relics shrugged as he punched in his numbers. The robotic cashier did not ask for his number twice (and for good reason).

Bill chuckled. "Well, at least you fixed it eh? Okay let's go." Bill said as the cashier processed his student I.D. number. With their business completed he pitbull led the human to a one of the three pairs of double doors. Relics was a bit cautious because through the door he could hear a lot of noise. "Man that was so cool! You totally tore Rob sixty-nine a few new ones! I wish I had my phone so I could have recorded that."

"Um Bill… where are you taking me?" Relics asked as Bill readjusted his plate so he could open the ridiculously heavy door.

"To the commons, this is where we buy our food but in here is where we eat." Bill said as he opened the door.

Relics made a sound like a gasp that comes out of a person being strangled. The room was a massive diner with booths along the walls with windows to look out of, tables for two, four, eight and twelve, some vending machines, and trashcans placed in eight spots allowing for no one to go too far to dump their plate. Outside were some shrubberies and the last flowers of the year as well as stone tables for outside dining. But that wasn't why he made such a girly noise.

Cornerians. Canines, felines, birds, reptiles, amphibians, pigs, bears, raccoons, ferrets, rodents, and primates as far as the eye could see. Relics knew it was a big school but this was beyond belief. There were definitely more than five hundred, more than a thousand, maybe even two thousand Cornerians. Of course he was overestimating and there was exactly nine hundred and eighty seven students enrolled in Corneria High whilst only eight hundred and sixty four were currently at school eating food in the commons.

"Uh…" Relics said until Bill snapped his fingers in Relics' face some several seconds later.

"Dude, are you okay?" Bill asked with genuine concern.

"I uh… I just remembered that I have to uh-"

"Are you scared man?" Bill asked.

"What!? No! Don't be ridiculous!" Relics scoffed but on the inside he was panicking. He hadn't seen this many Cornerians since his home planet Mar Sara was invaded. His nightmares began creeping from the blackest pits of his mind. Cornerian invaders slaughtering human civilians. Men, women and children, it did not matter. Whatever got in their way was mowed down with blaster fire.

"Well that's good, although you _would_ have a reason to be afraid. All right then, let's go find Falco and Slippery." Bill said and patted Relics on the shoulder which only made him worse. The human breathed shallowly, his eyes darted to the slightest trace of motion in his peripherals and his plate shook as his hand trembled violently.

'_Shit! This is not good! Not good! What do I do? Crap! What do I do!?'_ Relics thought desperately as he followed Bill. The human was trying to think of a means of quick escape but no matter which way he bolted there was a Cornerian in the way.

A lot of people began to stare at the human. Not many of them noticed his distress because they were all astonished that they were looking at a real live alien. To them he was the strangest thing they had ever seen. He walked like them, could talk like them, and he even dressed a bit like them just a little formally though, but there were also the differences. He didn't look like any species (except minutely like an ape without any fur), he had no tail, he had little hairs on his arms but was mainly skin, and he smelled like an off-worlder.

'_Why do they have to stare? Why!?'_

"Ah, there they are." Bill said and pointed them out.

'_Oh thank… Satan apparently.' _Relics thought. He was so relieved that Bill found them and he'd get to sit down, but Slippy and Falco were sitting in the dead center of the cafeteria and not in a secluded booth like Relics was hoping. _'Son of a motherfu-'_

"Hey Falco, hey Slip." Bill said as he sat down at the table. "Relics, pop a squat." Bill said to the still standing human.

'_Pop a what? Are we going to the hood to shoot ups some usher G's that think their wiggidy wiggidy wack yo? Jesus, talk some sense Bill. Then again I made no sense what so ever… I'm so white! Why did my pigments have to go? I used to be so tan until the god damn enhancements. Still being able to run faster than any normal human being is pretty cool and enhanced reflexes takes a lot of the pain out of dodge ball… wait what was I talking about? Wait… don't I mean think? Okay just shut up and stop thinking… if you can dodge a wrench-' _Relics thought to himself.

Relics sat down at the round table for six and immediately his leg began to rocket about. He couldn't stop the leg's bouncing with sheer will so with his right hand he began to pinch the rebellious leg as hard as he could. After a second it worked until Falco began to address him.

"So Relics, how long you staying on Corneria?"

'_Why? Want to get rid of me already you beaky, blue bast-'_

"Till a month after school is out." Relics responded as his leg once again jumped up and down rapidly like there was an electrical current running through it.

"Alright, sweet deal." Falco said before his feathers ruffled up and close together (implying he was pleased and/or happy).

"Why you all fluffy?" Bill asked.

"Because my deodorant deprived friend _I_ already scored today." Falco sneered.

"Give me a break Falco, there is no way you scored." Bill scoffed.

'_Score? At school? Honestly have some class.'_ Relics thought.

"Oh really?" Falco asked as he pulled out a piece of paper with what appeared to be numbers on it. Bill's eyes popped almost out of there sockets. "So there I was, standing in line and then out of the blue this robin, excuse me, this breasts so large they'd hit the wall before her beak would, robin walks up to me and she says all innocently like hi are you Falco?"

"No way." Bill laughed as he gawked at the note.

"No way I out weigh you Bill. Anyways after a few seconds of harmless chit chat she writes her number down and gives it to me. I pocket it and I get to watch her fine ass walk away knowing full well I'm going to call her tonight-"

'_Oh that's what he means by scoring.'_

"-Man, am I a player or what?" Falco boasted.

It was at that moment Bill broke down laughing. No one else noticed but Relics that several people looked over at Bill with confused looks and then looked back at Relics.

"I hate to disappoint you _player,_ but take a closer look at the note!" Bill gasped and then began to convulse with laughter uncontrollably.

"What are you-" Falco snapped but looked at the note anyway. When he saw the little post script below the ten digit code the falcon's beak fell as far as it could without physical help. Relics wondered what could make someone go from loving the smell of their own farts to a flabbergasted clown. Falco's feathers flattened and spread out (which implied he was very angry).

"You have got to be freakin' kidding me." Falco said as he glared at the note.

"What does it say- wow! Epic fail Falco, epic fail." Slippy said as he read the note.

"Why… why don't you give that to the rightful owner Falco?" Bill chortled and took the note from Falco's hand. Bill then handed it to Relics who was trying his best on getting the strength to take at least one bite from his hamburger. "Here you go Relics." Bill said.

"Uh…" Relics said as he read the note.

"_**Sorry to get your hopes up Falco but would you be a sweetie and give this to the human you were hanging out with earlier? ~~~Melina"**_

'_You have got to be freakin' kidding me!' _Relics thought when he finished.

"Looks like Relics is rather popular with the ladies." Bill said rather haughtily.

"He's gotten more numbers then Slippy has ever gotten." Falco grumbled as he tried to turn this around onto the food consuming, green, chasm.

Slippy didn't even stop eating and pretended he didn't hear the blue avian. His hamburger, spaghetti, burrito and two corndogs were too important to put down and start bickering.

'_His mouth… it's like a black hole!'_ Relics thought as Slippy downed a whole corndog in one bite. _'I hope my hand doesn't get too close or I'll lose it.'_

"So Relics you gonna call her?" Bill asked as he cocked an eyebrow. Luckily for Relics he hadn't begun to eat his food yet or else he would have started gagging and then choking.

"Uh well…" Relics began but trailed off.

"You totally should dude, if she's anything like Falco tells you then you've landed yourself a better girlfriend then he'd ever have. I mean just listen to the way he talks!" Bill pointed out and then began to laugh at the falcon.

"Well I would but don't you think it would be inappropriate for a human to date a Cornerian?" Relics asked. He knew that if anyone back home found out that he even held a female Cornerian's hand he'd be a pariah for the rest of his life. Right now nobody trusted Cornerians even though they have been trying to make amends since their misguided invasion. Some thought they were just strategically testing how well they would fare before a real invasion.

Bill stared at the human for a second with his brown puppy dog eyes. His eyes and all Cornerian eyes looked exactly like animal eyes back on Earth only they had more white around them and they were as good if not better than the average human's. Their noses were also far better than humans as were their hearing. Yet in Relics' experience they were twice as loud as any human.

"No, no I don't think so. Hell I once saw a wolf eating a pig's face on a park bench and no one cared." Bill said honestly. "No not really ate but kissed her a lot, you know?" Bill said when he saw Relics' shocked face.

"Oh good." Relics sighed and then picked up his burger.

"Hey, hey! Shut up, I want to see how they eat!"

"I bet he has to like throw it up and eat it again! Oh God that would be the grossest thing!"

"Come on! I'm trying to eat here!"

'_Yeah you I'm trying to eat here to.'_ Relics thought bitterly as he overheard the conversation behind him through all the noise of the talking and eating Cornerians.

"OOH! I bet he's going to salivate all over it before eating!"

"PETER SHUT UP!"

'_Yeah Peter!'_

Relics opened his mouth but he got a large whiff of the burger. Quickly the human put the burger back down and shut his mouth before he puked. While he did throw up, it was only a little bit and in his mouth.

'_Okay let's try that again.'_ Relics thought when he felt a little better and he disposed of the vomit. This time he'd hold his breath. Once more the human picked up his burger and inched it towards his mouth. Just as the Meats of Evil were about to cross his incisors the grey pitbull nudged the human and the burger fell out of his hands and onto the floor.

'_I don't know whether to thank you or to wring your little fat neck.'_

"Dude Relics don't look now but I think that that minx over there is checking you out." Bill sort of whispered in Relics' ear.

"What?" Relics scoffed. He highly doubted anybody would be checking him out in front of all these people but when he looked up he saw that Bill wasn't lying. A minx, sitting at the table in front of them was looking in his general direction and she was smiling very warmly towards him. "Uh well she might not be looking at me you know."

Bill shook his head and his rather small jowls jiggled a bit. "No way man, she wants you BAD."

"But how can you tell?" Relics asked as he was handed another note.

'_You've got to be kidding me. Is every woman here really a slut?'_ Relics thought as he read the note.

"_**You didn't fly all the way across the universe and not think to say hi did you?"**_

"Go on Relics, go for it! Don't worry its okay to go out with another species here!" Bill said surprisingly intriguingly. Almost like Bill was trying to hook them up, or set him up for a trap. Whatever the reason, Relics had no interest in Cornerian women.

"I don't know." Relics said. _'Well actually I do, and I don't want to do it. She probably has like, Super Aids or something.' _Relics thought overly critically.

"Come on Relics, you know minxes are really crazy in the sack." Bill egged.

Once more the human threw up in his mouth a little bit. The sheer thought of a human doing it with any feline was not only wrong in every way but made him want to beat the Hell out of anyone who would do it with a_ lynx_, feline or a house cat Cornerian.

"No guys I don't-" Relics said but he made the mistake of looking back up. The minx was now pouting a little and her friends at her table pouted with her. _'What the fu-'_

Without warning Bill helped Relics to his feet. "Come on space buddy."

"What are you doing!?" Relics snapped as Bill led the human to the table with the minx. It seemed that the pitbull did not care that the entire school was watching. The intensity of an uncountable number of eyes burned the human with the same white hot intensity of a thousand suns.

"Making sure you don't make a big mistake." Bill replied and then when they were within talking distance of the girls Bill let go of Relics' shirt collar. "Hey ladies, have a wonderful day." Bill said before heading back to his table with the rolling with laughter toad and falcon.

'_I'm going to kill him, I'm going to find out where he lives, wait till his breathing patterns show that he's asleep, open the door really quietly, wear pillows on my feet to conceal the noise of my footsteps, and then when he's in range I- whoa hold the phone.'_

The minx wasn't half bad looking now that Relics saw her up close. She wasn't exactly what he'd call attractive but she was kind of cute like a house cat. She was solid tan, her eyes were a reddish color (they didn't look like contacts though), her ears were perky and her tail was swishing now that Relics was standing by her.

"Hi there." The minx said warmly.

'_OhmyGodwhatdoIdowhyamIhereoh God!' _Relics panicked in his mind.

"Hi." Relics responded a little shaky. Normally he wasn't freaked out by women but Cornerian women were entirely different stories.

"How are you?"

'_How am I? How exactly am I? Who am I? What am I doing here? Why do dogs bark for no reason in the night and spiders need eight legs!?'_

"Um I uh, I'm good… how are you?"

'_How are you? That's it? I know she's Cornerian but come on! Say something that doesn't make you look like a simple minded fool!'_

The tan minx smiled all the brighter as her girl friends giggled and whispered amongst themselves. Relics was very thankful they were being quiet enough that he didn't hear them.

"I'm great now that I've spoken to you."

'_Uh…'_

"You know, I've heard a lot about you." The tan minx said as her friends continued to whisper amongst themselves but a bit louder than before. Relics picked up a few words like, "crazy girl," "not that bad looking," and "I wonder how big he."

"Yeah?"

'_WHAT THE HELL MAN! WHAT DID I JUST SAY NOT TO DO!?'_ Relics scolded when he made the mistake of sounding too simple.

"Oh yes, the media has been all over you since the day you touched down on Corneria. You're rather popular."

"Is it true you busted a reporter's head open?" one of the minx's friends, a rather giddy ferret asked.

"No I can't say I have." Relics replied as he tried to rip his eyes away from the minx's. There was something about her and it scarred the crap out of Relics. It felt warm and cuddly, and nice. Whatever it was Relics didn't want any part of it. It made him feel all funny.

"My name is Lana by the way." The minx said as she offered her petite hand.

Relics bit the inside of his cheek so hard he peeled off several layers. Felines (like cats back on Earth or the Rheine sector) were very fierce with their claws. The last thing Relics wanted to do was put his hand in the lion's mouth or in this case, the minx's paw. But he would appear rude in front of Lana, all her friends and whoever was watching.

"Relics." The pale human said as he took the minx's hand. He shook twice before he tried to abort but the minx had other ideas. She kept a firm grip and looked Relics dead in the eye.

"I heard that in human customs it was customary to kiss a lady's hand upon meeting her." The minx said with a salacious smile.

'… _WHO THE FUCK TOLD HER THAT!?I'LL MURDER HIM!'_

Relics laughed nervously. "You uh… you may have heard right. But that only applies in formal occasions."

"This is formal." The minx shrugged and her friends began to erupt with irritating giggling. All five of them were like Lana's little audience to some sick and twisted play. It made Relics' snowy hair stand up on the back of his neck.

Swallowing his pride Relics took the surprisingly soft and furry hand closer to his face as he bent into it. Lana's hand was like a human's hand but it had pads on the finger tips and palm and most also had fur and claws. One wrong move or word and they'd make him into a human scratching post. With dry lips the human kissed the back of Lana's sweet smelling hand. The formal kiss sparked the same amount of noise from Lana's entourage as a bomb does when it goes off in your ear.

"Mein Gott das war furchtbar." Relics muttered but thankfully Lana and her friends didn't understand him since the translator around Relics' arm only translated English not German.

"What was that?" Lana asked with a curious look on her face.

"Uh it was French for you have lovely hands." Relics lied.

"Why thank you." The minx smiled. "Listen let me give you my phone number and we can talk more later. Would you like that?"

'_Why do you already have a card with all these details?'_ Relics wondered as Lana handed him a sort of business card with her name Lana Tress, her phone number, little reddish hearts (the same color as her eyes) and a little winking smiley face.

"Um yeah that sounds great." Relics said and pocketed the card in his pocket with the dull pencil and Melina's phone number.

"Call me anytime."

Relics accidently scrapped off another layer of the inside of his cheek when Lana's friends made a long and ominous "ooh" sound together.

"Okay." Relics said as he nodded swiftly. "Listen it was great talking to you but I need to get back to Bill and… the others." Relics said when he couldn't remember Falco's or Slippy's name.

"Well take care Relics." Lana said and as Relics turned to leave she got a little frisky.

Relics managed to keep his frightened yelp in but the fact that Lana so openly violated him was emotionally scarring. Even as he walked back to his table where the awaiting canine, falcon and amphibian were waiting with sly smirks, he could still feel Lana's fingers pinching his butt.


	4. Don't Drop the Soap

"Relics…" Bill said all long and drawn out like a child trying to pester his sibling. The grey eyed human chose to ignore the grey pitbull but his patience was being tested most heinously. "Reeeellllliiiicsss." Bill repeated.

'_Just shut up Bill, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!'_

"Reeeelllliiiicsss." Bill repeated in the human's ear.

"You better answer him human; he can go on for days… _days!_" Falco growled.

"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllll lllllllllllllll-"

"What is it Bill?" Relics asked through his teeth. The pitbull was really getting on his nerves and he knew exactly what he was going to say. He was going to ask for a thank you. As if a Cornerian would ever be worthy of receiving a genuine thank you from him.

"What do you have to say to me?" The pitbull asked with a mischievous grin.

'_Thanks for running off on me you giant pussy of a dog? Is that what I'm supposed to say? Cause you honestly don't deserve a thank you! …Jerk!' _

"Thank you?" Relics said instead of his thoughts.

"Aw… I am complete now." Bill said as he placed his hand on his heart which was strangely also on the left side of his chest like humans. "Your words humble me." Bill sighed.

"Shut up Bill, he didn't even need your help and it wasn't like you helped at all anyways! You high tailed it out of there the second you said hi!"

'_Thank you, Falco.'_

"Oh come on! Relics was shaking in his shoes! There was no way he would have made a move had it not been for me."

'_I'm still here you know Bill.' _Relics thought as Falco and Bill began to talk about him as if he weren't there. It was a boring as well as humiliating conversation and Relics tried to stay out of it. His focus then turned to Slippy who was somehow still eating. There wasn't much food left except a burrito and half a corndog and the human was starting to feel the hunger creep up on his stomach since his burger was a crushed mess all over the floor (thanks to Bill and some random pedestrian). Slippy noticed the human staring at him and held up his half eaten burrito.

"I'm sorry, did you want some?" Slippy asked with a mouth full of food.

"No… no I do not." Relics said as he began to turn as green as the toad. Aside from the disgusting display of pigging out from Slippy there was only one thing that disgusted him more and that was the burrito in the toad's hand. Flies, bits of worms and what looked like onions were sprinkled all around inside the burrito. Purely revolting.

"So Relics, what did you think of her?" Bill asked suddenly.

"Her name is Lana Tress-"

"Good, good, but what's she like?"

'_There he goes again! Enough with the eh's!'_

"She's… cool. I find it a little weird that she isn't whispering about me behind my back though." Relics admitted. "It's even stranger how she pinched- seemed to open up so fast." Relics said quickly but the damage was already done.

"Don't think we didn't notice, Relics." Bill cooed. "We saw Lana getting frisky."

Relics started to go pink. "You… you saw that?"

"Oh yes, and by the look on her face afterwards I'd say she enjoyed what she felt." Falco said smugly. "Better watch yourself around her; she must be a freak in the sack."

'_Ewwwwww! That's even more disgusting than watching Slippy eat!'_

"I'll be careful then." Relics said as he set his elbows on the table and held his hands together. This was the strangest day of his life. Enemies that are now supposedly friends were inviting him to have lunch with them, were looking out for him, and were even trying to get him some tail (literally).

Relics was beginning to form a rather solid opinion of the three at his table and the minx at the other. First off Bill was an outgoing, fun loving, kind of annoying, overall okay guy. Slippy was a quieter, rather annoying pig in a toad's skin. Falco was a womanizer, and other than that he was all right. But aside from them there was Lana and Lana was the strangest of all. She was nice (so it seemed), she was frisky, quite charming but most of all she was smart and very sly which worried him. Although it seemed she didn't know too much about human culture since she didn't kiss him on the cheek in return but Relics was grateful she didn't.

"Come on Relics, that's the bell." Bill said as he patted Relics on the shoulder as the school wide bell went off. "What do you got now?"

"P.E." Relics replied and Bill lit up.

"ALRIGHT!" Bill shouted. "That's what we've got too!

'_Go figure… fuck my life!'_

"Come on we always play Pong on the first day!" Falco said as Relics stood up.

'_Oh great, like I know what Pong is and how to play it. Idiot.'_

"Man I haven't played Pong in so long!" Bill said as he stretched out his arms above his head. "I wonder if I still got some game."

"Got what? You never had any game and never will!" Falco snapped.

"That's what she said!" Slippy interjected.

'_Burn!'_

"Hey! I was a great shot at Pong!" Bill argued but he should have given up then because Falco was about to go on a roll.

"Yeah if you don't count the times you nearly took the heads off people in the stands! I mean you suck so bad you're going to start a black hole and knowing you it will push things rather than suck them in!"

"Aw you're an ass, Falco." Bill growled.

'_I hope they don't keep this up the whole time I'm here. As funny as it is watching Bill and Falco squabble I can tell it will get old fast.' _Relics thought as he, Falco, Slippy and Bill began to head out towards B building. In comparison, A building (classrooms) was the tallest building with four stories, B building (gym and something else that Relics wasn't told about but everyone else knew) looked like it had at least two and a half and C building (cafeteria) was only one story but it was wider then the rest.

"So Relics before we get there let me tell you about Pong-" Bill began but Falco began to whisper in Bill's ear. "You know what never mind, it's such an easy and self explanatory game you'll pick it up in a heartbeat."

Relics bit his lips. He didn't hear Falco and it was because of that Relics knew he was plotting something. Whatever it was it couldn't be good if so much secrecy was involved. Just as Relics was starting to feel slightly comfortable around them they went and ruined it. Despite that though he kept close to them to avoid coming into contact with the other Cornerians around him.

"Come on guys, what aren't you telling me?" Relics asked.

"Nothing, we aren't hiding anything." Bill said but his facial and body gestures shouted "I'M LYING MY HAIRY ASS OFF!"

Relics squinted at the pitbull. Sure enough the pitbull was hiding something and began to slowly crack. Bill's eyes began to avoid Relics' and his nose got really twitchy all were signs of pressure building within his psyche. It was only because of Falco did Relics not manage to break Bill's walls.

"Come on guys or we'll be late and Mr. Leeuwarden won't be happy with us!"

"Yeah let's go." Bill said as he followed after Falco.

Relics grunted in his throat and followed after the avian and the canine but the amphibian followed the human. There was something strange about the human. He was too peculiar to not have something secretive about him. Slippy was absolutely sure that the human had his DNA enhanced which would give him special abilities as well as side effects. But he hadn't shown any signs of excessive speed, strength or any telepathic abilities yet. Maybe it was because the so called "collar" was a Suppressor after all. Although Relics was able to pussy foot around it, Slippy was almost sure that the human wasn't natural.

~X~X~X~X~

'_Good God! Don't they ever clean this room?'_ Relics thought as he fought to keep from gagging. Bill and Falco had just walked Relics to the men's locker room and already Relics wanted to send for a Cornerian priest to contain the smell with the power of whatever God he worshiped. His companions on the other hand didn't notice it at all.

"Okay Relics, to the left is the teacher's room, and to the right is the locker room. Before we go to the locker rooms we get our yearly uniforms. The uniforms are yours to take care of and at the end of the year you return them." Bill explained.

'_Ewwwwwwww! Cornerians wore and sweat all over my gym clothes!?' _Relics thought as he waited in line with Bill, Falco and the other students for their uniforms. The line moved a lot faster the school cafeteria lines but Relics wished it would have taken all period. He didn't want any filthy Cornerian clothes. He could hardly stand wearing the clothes he got from the Cornerian government; they kind of itched like his Suppressor.

When it was finally their turn Relics stepped into the teachers room which had reinforced windows, a heavy door with a lock, an AC and a whole lot of papers on several tables stretching all around the room.

"Aw shit. I've been dreading this one." A rather large grizzly growled as Relics stepped through the door.

'_Hello to you too ass-wipe.'_

"I suppose you'll be needing a special uniform then huh?" The grizzly snapped.

'_Not unless you want my ass showing through the hole made for a tail.'_

"Well get over here then."

'_Nice to meet you too.'_ Relics thought but obeyed anyway. Relics walked up to the massive grizzly and the brown bear began to look through the twelve boxes around him. It took him about five minutes but eventually they found a uniform that was Relics' size and didn't have a hole in the backend.

"There, don't tear it up." The grizzly grunted as he chucked the uniform at the human.

"I'll tear you up." Relics mumbled to himself. Thankfully the brown grizzly sneezed as Relics mumbled or there would have been some trouble.

"NEXT!"

Relics walked past Bill as he went to get his uniform not really caring much for anything really. This was going to be the longest year of his life, especially since that grizzly was his P.E. instructor. Still, Relics would try not to make trouble and keep his head low but odds were that was going to be impossible. One day Relics would get pushed over the edge and it wouldn't be pretty.

"Ho boy he's still a major ball buster. I think Mr. Leeuwarden likes you though!" Bill said as he jogged up to Relics and followed him down the right hallway.

"Like me!? I thought he was going to bite my head off!" Relics scoffed.

"Nah he likes you. He doesn't like me one bit though. When I first met him he cussed me out in front of the whole class! You on the other hand he didn't shout a single profanity at you. Word of advice though, when he tells you to run laps, you run laps and when he tells you to shut up, stitch your mouth shut for the rest of the day!" Bill warned.

"I'll remember that." Relics sighed as they rounded a corner into the actual locker room. The lockers were all around the square room and there were six lines of lockers down the middle of the room. The room itself was rather big, about seventy by seventy feet by nine feet. The most distinguishing thing about the room however was the smell. It was like a sweaty marathon in a zoo. And then Relics spotted the showers.

"Oh yeah one more thing Relics… don't drop the soap."

"W-what?" Relics stuttered with a sheer look of terror on his face.

"Man I'm just kidding you!" Bill laughed when he saw the white human go pasty white.

"Oh… don't do that to me!" Relics snapped.

"I'm sorry but it's just so funny." Bill said as his laughter began to die down. "Okay… okay let's get some lockers."

Bill and Relics began to walk around looking for suitable lockers. Some didn't work and some had a foul odor coming from it so they skipped those ones until finally they found two adequate lockers by each other..

"There's some." Relics pointed out as he tried to keep the nearly naked Cornerians out of his sight which was a hard thing to do since they were everywhere. Relics had a problem with seeing Cornerians nearly naked but not as much as he thought he would. It was probably because he'd been in locker rooms before and had gotten used to being around nearly naked men (however wrong that may sound).

"Um Bill… aren't there like, changing rooms?" Relics asked as a rather porcine Cornerian bent over in nothing but his green underwear with game controllers all over it and it said "Find the biggest joystick."

"Changing rooms? No the girls got those but trust me you _don't _want to go in there." Bill shivered. "I know from experience that they will throw anything at you, claw you wherever they can get you and if they catch you you'll wake up nearly naked and tied up to the flag pole outside with bruises all over."

'_Well that just means I won't get caught- wait what did I just say!?'_

"Oh… so you've tried before?" Relics asked.

Bill nodded. "Me and Falco tried to get Fox in with us but lucky for him he didn't. Let me tell you this though, it was _worth it!_"

'_...'_

"Okay moving on. When you mark your locker what you do is you… oh shit." Bill said when he heard a loud bang and looked up. "Relics stay low." Bill said as he forced Relics' head down.

"Why Bill what's going on?"

"All right where is that miserable little skinner?" A loud and very angry voice shouted.

'_Skinner!? Oh you motherfu-' _Relics thought as he tried to stand up but Bill clonked him on the head.

"Just stay down. You don't want Wolf to find you!" Bill hissed (rather well for a canine) at Relics as he went about his business making the locker his with a fingerprint scan.

"I said where is that fucking skinner?" The loud voice shouted once more.

"Um Bill, who is that and why does he want me?" Relics asked as he rubbed his sore head.

"Um… I think that… well you know that girl Lana Tress?" Bill mumbled quietly.

"Yeah, the minx?" Relics replied.

"That's Wolf's ex."

'…_FfffffFuck!'_

"Why didn't you warn me before hand!?" Relics snapped.

"Because… because!" Bill growled. "I forgot okay? Seriously it was a long ass time ago! He doesn't even go to this school and we thought he was over her… apparently not though."

"So he wants to kick my ass over a girl?" Relics asked.

"Where is he!?" the Wolf guy shouted.

"Yeah so just- what are you doing!?" Bill snapped as Relics stood up.

"Hey motherfucker! I'm right here!" Relics shouted at the person yelling for him. Right as he did though he wished he didn't. Apparently Wolf was as mean as he sounded. The grey lupine was as big if not bigger than Bill in height and muscle mass, his ears had a few chips and there was the nastiest scowl Relics had ever seen on any creature.

'_Oh… fuck-biscuits.' _Relics thought as the lupine spotted him.

"There you are." The Wolf grunted as he ran at Relics. Fortunately he had to cross through the locker maze but that wouldn't buy Relics much time.

'_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! There's no other choice… I have to use them.' _Relics thought as the lupine tackled people out of his way just to get to him. Relics inhaled deeply and shut his eyes for a moment as he concentrated on his eyesight.

"Relics run!" Bill shouted as he moved almost instinctively and put himself in between Relics and Wolf's rampage path.

Relics thought about running for a split second but not a second longer. This was his chance, to show everybody he wouldn't take shit lying down and that he wasn't locked in this school with them but they were locked in this school with him. Relics did something he wasn't too proud of (but still took some slight pleasure from) to Bill to get him out of the way. Relics kicked the back of Bill's knees and then threw him back when his knees hit the ground.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Bill shouted right as Wolf rounded the corner.

"Thanks Bill but that won't be…" Relics said as Wolf came within range. Wolf threw a punch square at Relics' jaw but Wolf missed entirely as Relics ducked and grabbed the lupine by his shirt collar and his belt buckle. Using the lupine's momentum Relics tossed the large wolf. Before Wolf knew what hit him he went flying down one of the locker paths and landed on his back onto the hard concrete floor.

"Necessary." Relics finished.

There was an eerie silence in the locker room. The only thing that broke the silence was Wolf's breathing. The human wanted to pounce and beat the living Hell out of Wolf's face but that would be savage and might get him in trouble. Besides, even without his abnormal speed he still had his keen reflexes brought on by his enhanced eyesight and that was just as, if not more, valuable than being able to move faster than any normal human being could ever dream of.

"Dude… what did you do?" Bill gapped. He had never seen Wolf so dazed before. Not even when he and Fox went at it was he this blundered. Usually it was an even fight even though Fox wasn't as big as Wolf but what Fox lacked in strength and size he made up for with his martial arts and exceptional use of his legs. Relics didn't answer that question since Wolf was now twice as pissed and getting to his feet.

"I'll fucking gut you, skinner!" Wolf growled as his rather large and sharp looking claws out. Once more Wolf rushed the human in an insane burst of speed but to Relics it was different.

Relics saw Wolf running at him in slow motion because of the second enhancement. A normal human being sees a fluid motion in action at one twentyforth of a second, but thanks to the enhancements, Relics could increase his eyes' sight up to one fortieth of a second putting most everything into slow motion. This made his eyesight and reflexes nearly twice as good as any normal humans'. If he over used his enhanced eyesight however, his eyes would begin to burn out the retinas and would darken until they went black. After that he'd have to wait a while before his vision came back, about a week to be exact. That said he had to finish this fight quickly. Being blind on an alien planet was not the position he wanted to be in.

This time Wolf tried to jab Relics with his claws but Relics saw it before Wolf's attack was halfway. The human moved to the side just in time. Had he stayed where he was, five claws would have punctured an inch into his gut.

Wolf growled louder with rage when he missed and tried for Relics' throat but Relics saw an opening. Without hesitating Relics struck Wolf's muzzle with his foot and sent the lupine's head straight into one of the red, hard, metal lockers. Wolf dropped and went out cold just in time. The fight lasted only about a minute but Relics' eyes were already killing him. He released his concentration and his eyes contracted causing his reflexes turned back to normal.

"Oh my fucking God." Bill gapped. "Relics!"

Relics turned around and tried not to laugh at the astonished pitbull on the ground. Instead the human helped the pitbull up.

"What did- how did- ….dude!"

"He just took Wolf out without getting touched!"

"He even made him bleed!"

Relics rubbed his temples as he began to get a migraine. He ran a big risk fighting like that against Wolf but it was necessary and well worth it. Relics made it clear that he wasn't a defenseless human anyone could push around and he knew it would be all over the school in a few seconds since several people recorded the fight on their cell phones.

"Relics!" Bill gapped. "Do you know what you just did?"

There was something strange about Bill's tone. It was almost as if he did something very bad.

"Opened up a can of whoop-ass?" Relics asked nervously.

"Relics!" Bill repeated. "You just opened a whole CASE of whoop-ass!" Bill shouted with enthusiasm that made Relics go deaf for a minute. Relics rubbed his ear while Bill walked up to the unconscious lupine and got right in his face. "You got knocked the FUCK OUT!"

"Alright what the fuck is going on back here?" Mr. Leeuwarden growled as he rounded the corner with Slippy, Falco and several other Cornerian boys following behind him.

"Oh Mr. Leeuwarden!" Bill yelped. "Um nothing sir uhh… Wolf! He uh he tripped… and fell! And hit his head!"

"Billiam-" 

'_Billiam?' _Relics thought to himself and almost broke down laughing.

"-because you said it I don't believe that sorry excuse of a bedtime story." The grizzly grunted.

'_Well isn't he a charmer?'_

"So what really happened?" Mr. Leeuwarden said but out of the peripheral of his vision he saw a tom cat pocket his cell phone. "You!" Leeuwarden barked causing the Tom Cat to let out a small caterwaul. "Show me the video."

"Um sir-"

"NOW Martin!"

'_Oh crap what happens now?' _Relics wondered as the black, brown and grey tom cat pulled out his cell phone and looked up the video. He handed it to Mr. Leeuwarden and the Grizzly snatched it out of his hands rather unnecessarily. The video played and Relics could faintly make out Wolf yelling for him and then his own shouts.

Mr. Leeuwarden watched the video and chuckled at parts he thought was funny (the parts where Relics threw Bill the ground and kicked Wolf in the face). When it was done the large grizzly nodded affirmatively to himself then looked up to Relics.

"So…"

'_So? So? SO? Is that all you're going to say? You suck!'_ Relics thought. Mr. Leeuwarden was really messing with the human's mind.

"Everyone get dressed, we've got a fun day ahead of us." Mr. Leeuwarden said as he pocketed the Tom Cat's phone.

"Um sir… m-my phone?"

"Sorry Martin, you aren't supposed to have cell phones out during school hours." Mr. Leeuwarden said as he walked off with the cell phone.

'_Ouch.'_

__"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Bill chuckled as he pointed at Martin. "He just TORCHED your ass! He Just TORCHED… your ASS!"

"Shut up Bill or do I have to my belt out from under your mum's bed?"

'Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!' Relics laughed inside. He always did like a good mom joke.

"Bah! Don't make me sick my human on you Martin! He'll knock your ass out too!" Bill growled.

Naturally Relics would pick his own fights and wasn't some vicious attack dog bent on pleasing his master but all the same when Martin glanced suspiciously at him Relics glared and nodded.

"Well I got to go change. Stay healthy Bill!" Martin said before taking off. Bill, Falco and Slippy chuckled as Martin ran off to his locker.

"So what kept you two?" Bill growled lightheartedly.

Falco's shoulders slumped and he sighed. "Oh God man! Mr. Leeuwarden would _not_ stop shouting! It was stay out of trouble this and stay away from my daughter that!"

"Well you missed one Hell of a fight." Bill laughed as he rubbed Relics' head and ruffled up his hair.

'_Bill… it took me two HOURS to make my hair the way I liked it… and you ruined it in less than two seconds! I swear if I get the chance I will murder your family, burn your house down, and then-'_

"Huh what?" Relics asked when he realized Slippy was talking to him.

"I said how did you manage to take Wolf down? He is one of the biggest guys on campus yet from what I hear you handled him no problem." Slippy repeated.

'_Yeah then his momma handled me right after… wait. Gross! Bad self, bad! Great now I'm scolding myself!'_

"Oh well I just threw him once and then later I saw an opening and I kicked him in the face." Relics replied.

Slippy squinted at him. "He must have been moving awfully fast."

"Well kind of, but he's not all that." Relics shrugged.

"Relics is that collar-" Slippy began but was interrupted by the loud booming voice of Leeuwarden.

"You pansies better be getting suited up or I'll make you run around campus wearing nothing but skirts while I shoot you in the back with a BB gun!"

"Come on Relics he ain't kidding about that!" Bill said as he quickly showed Relics to an open locker.

"Okay you just scan you finger and it will open for you…" Bill began but Relics began to zone out as he watched a robot hauling a stretcher bump into people as it made its way to the still unconscious Wolf. The robot ran over several feet and toes which was amusing to Relics until it bumped him rather harshly with the stretcher.

"Hey watch it!" Relics snapped. He was ready to show this robot some "tender loving compassion" like he did to the lunch-bot from earlier.

"Just wait till Fox hears about this, he's going to be so proud." Bill said to Relics as the face down lupine was hauled off on the stretcher.

~X~X~X~X~

Several loud beeps and chirps disturbed the sleeping vulpine's slumber. He'd been asleep for the past sixteen hours but to him that was normal. He loved sleeping, especially when he hadn't slept in two days. At first the vulpine tried to ignore the noises but they just kept cycling over and over as people kept calling him. With a loud groan and a horrible smelling growl (thanks to morning breath) the vulpine reached out from his zebra stripped blanket and grabbed his phone. He clicked the call button and immediately someone was shouting at him.

"OH MY GOD, FOX WHERE ARE YOU?"

The vulpine nearly threw his phone but the pain in his ears wasn't great enough to indulge into anger. Instead the vulpine groaned and held the phone far away from his droopy ear.

"I'm at home Miyu… and good… morning?" Fox grunted tiredly. He had no idea if it was morning or not but he guessed right.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE AT HOME!?"

"Ow! Miyu I love your voice and all but I can't love it if it makes me go deaf! Please talk quieter." Fox begged the Macbeth accented lynx (to Relics it was French).

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I'M NOT YELLING. YOU'RE PHONE MUST BE TURNED UP AGAIN SILLY-BUNS!"

"Silly-buns?" Fox said to himself but then refocused on his phone. "Oh hey what do you know?" Fox said as he dialed down the speaker volume. "So what's up?"

"Well for one I'm at school-" 

"School!? But I thought school didn't start till next Thursday!" Fox yelped as he jumped out of bed. He was practically naked; he only slept in his boxers because it felt a lot better than sleeping in heavy clothes and all his thick orange fur.

"Um no actually a message went out to everyone that the dates been changed to today and… you know what it's just easier to call you stupid although cute." Miyu giggled.

"Oh shit it's already ten thirty!" Fox barked more at himself than to Miyu.

"Fox, guess what!"

"Crap and I don't have any clean clothes, my things are everywhere, and dad took the car because of last week's indiscretion!" Fox said while he looked around his room aimlessly.

"I'd hardly call last week an indiscretion my beloved stallion." Miyu sighed.

"Stallion? Well that's flattering." Fox said as he started to go red and forgot all about his problems for the moment. "What was the best part?"

"Mm, the way I rode you and you slapped me on the- no Fara I'm not talking to Fox, I'm talking to Q-Tip. Yes I talk to my horse! Horses need attention too you know! No you may not talk to him to! Get your own horse! Yeah you wish Fara!"

"Miyu?" Fox asked as he laughed at Miyu's side conversation.

"Oh sorry Fox, Fara wanted to talk to you but you're my eight inch stallion and mine alone."

"I am way taller than eight inches Miyu. More around six feet tall." Fox chuckled.

"I didn't mean your height Fox." Miyu giggled.

It took Fox a minute but when he found a pair of pants without any stains he finally understood. "Oh… he-he-he. So what's up?"

"Oh nothing much except that human got in a fight with Wolf." Miyu said casually. Now it was Miyu's turn to feel some pain in her ears.

"THEY WHAT!? WASN'T BILL OR FALCO WATCHING OUT FOR HIM LIKE I ASKED THEM TO!?" Fox shouted.

"I don't know but what I do know is that they fought. It was pretty brutal to, I sent you the video." Miyu sighed as she rubbed her ear on the other side.

"Oh come on Miyu I don't want to watch the human get his ass whipped."

Miyu for some reason laughed. "As if! Fox you should have seen Relics! He was amazing! He didn't even get touched and within a minute Wolf was out cold and bleeding on a locker!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on now! What exactly happened?" Fox asked as he tried to maneuver himself into a shirt and keep his ear glued to the cell phone at the same time.

"Just watch the video Foxy…" Miyu said and then broke up for a second. "Listen Fox I got to go, Miss Amanya is done watching Relics kick Wolf's ass and wants to start today's lesson. You keep healthy and I'll be over tonight if your parents are still on a business trip."

Fox went fiery red and licked his lips. "Okay but you can't scream as much as you did or you'll wake up Sherry!"

"Oh Fox, everything about you _is_ a scream. Bye love."

"Bye love." Fox said and hung up. The orange vulpine felt pretty good with himself despite being late the very first day of school (and allowing the human to come into danger despite promising his dad he wouldn't). Miyu and he were very much in love and they shared so many interests like becoming pilots, hobbies and techno bands. Eventually they came to that point where relationships reach and they drove off in Fox's car to Krystal Lake. In the morning they both woke several hours past curfew and in a whole truck load of shit. Still neither one regretted it.

"Was there something I was supposed to do- oh yeah! I got to get ready!" Fox yelped as he moved quickly to collect his things. If he hurried he'd be able to make it for sixth period and make sure the human wasn't killed.


	5. You've got Mail

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Okay you guys I want to clear some things up from last time. Relics has three alterations, the first is unnatural speed, he can move faster than you or I can ever hope to move (but the Suppressor negates that ability). The second is hearing, he can hear things clearly whilst we would only hear a faint whispering sound (which is how he's been hearing most people talk about him). And lastly he has incredible eyesight. He sees things so fast that he can guess its flight path and movement patterns. He can only use his enhanced vision for so long before it starts to hurt and he loses his sight until they have time to heal. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one.**_

"Alright, shut up and gather round ladies and dykes!" Mr. Leeuwarden growled. Immediately the whole class obeyed and formed up around the behemoth bear on the half court line in the middle of the large gymnasium. The court looked remarkably like a basketball court but there weren't any hoops, just end-zones and two goal posts on both sides and a series of strange lines for Cornerian sports.

'_Am I a pretty lady or a handsome dyke?'_

The class consisted completely of guys which made the room reek of testosterone, sweat, and every other deodorant for sale. The classes were segregated because one too many accidents had happened while a boy gawked at a girl. It wasn't too bad of a problem until one boy was nearly crippled by running into a wall after gawking at the running girls, so eventually the school board voted the gender separations of physical education. Relics was a little thankful there weren't any girls because that meant there were less people in his class and he wouldn't get beaten by a girl. Albeit Cornerian girls were much more robust than a lot of girls back on Earth and her colonies Relics didn't want to be shown up by a girl, emasculating him and making him more of a target.

"Keep it down Relics, he doesn't like it when people talk, breathe, or exist for that matter." Bill whispered to the human at his side. Relics followed Bill's instructions and luckily Mr. Leeuwarden was in a good mood because of Wolf's little humiliation, and so he tolerated Bill's out of line talking this time.

"Now before we begin playing, I want ten solid laps out of you all! Some of you look like you haven't moved since beginning of break… Steven!" The grizzly growled as he pointed at a rather fit looking swine. "Now get moving! Steven you do eleven laps."

"Damn it." Relics heard the pig Steven swear under his breath. Relics chuckled despite the pain in his eyes. The pain would last for the next couple of minutes but when that time was up he'd be able to use his enhanced reflexes without worry of it hurting his eyesight.

"I hate running." Slippy scowled as they started. For the most part the students stayed in a large cluster but those that were slower (Slippy) and those that were faster (Bill, Falco, Steven, a few other Cornerians, and Relics who didn't want to get caught in the large cluster of students) led or trailed the pack.

"Only one lap left." Bill sighed as this level of activity hardly even got him breathing fast. "Well for most of us."

"Shut up Bill. Mr. Leeuwarden just wants me to be in top shape before for Pong Season." Steven snapped.

"Oh please, you couldn't hit the side of a barn from inside of it!" Falco scoffed. "You couldn't even score against me all year last season."

"Hey if you weren't such a terrible shot, ball hogging whore then yeah, I'd be destroy you no problem!" Steven lashed back.

'_Man I would have been done by now! Stupid Suppressor! And just what the Hell is Pong? Damn Cornerians and their games! Damn them all to Hell!'_

"Hey! I am not a terrible shot! And I only hog the ball when my team is all a bunch of noobs!" Falco squawked, his feathers flared out like a person's nostrils when they are angry.

The students rounded the last corner with Falco and Steven still going at it and took a two minute breather for those that needed it (Slippy). While waiting for those who needed to catch their breath they watched Steven. The pink and black patched pig was moving at a fast pace but a few people made it hard on Steven. As he rounded the last turn he had his "supportive" crowd cheering him on.

"Yeah Steven! You got this buddy! You're almost there! One stretch left!" Bill shouted slowly like he would to a dumb and deaf person.

"Woo! Go Steven!"

"You're my hero, Steven!"

"YEAH, STEVEN!"

"Do it for Corneria, Steven!"

"Only you can prevent forest fires, Steven!"

Even Relics added in mentally. _'RRRuunnn Steeeveeen, Ruuuuuuunnnn! Aw damn it! Now I wanna watch that movie! Stupid Steven!'' _

When Steven was done, he was pink in the face but not from running.

"All right, I suppose we should get on with it then." Mr. Leeuwarden said as he carried two large and bulbous sacks in his hands like it was nothing. "Pong it is then." He said and most everybody cheered (everybody save Relics). When the sacks hit the floor Bill and two other Cornerians took out four massive rubber balls.

'_Those look… fun?' _Relics thought questioningly as he tried to remain optimistic.

"Think fast, Relics!" Bill said as he tossed the ball as if it were as light as a feather.

'_Maybe Pong will be fun. Maybe it will be like kickball or something.' _Relics thought as the massive ball fell into his arms and nearly drove him into the ground. The ball was heavier than any soccer ball, football, baseball at about ten pounds. _'Actually, I just hope it won't be like dodge-ball!'_

"Right, team up while I go do teacher stuff." Mr. Leeuwarden grunted.

'_Masturbate? Wait didn't I already crack that before? Nah. I wonder what he's going to do though. He can't be working on grades yet or even file paperwork… I bet he's spying on the girls. What a perv.'_

"Relics you're on my team." Bill said as he snapped Relics' attention.

Relics breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't the sportiest person but he was picked over the fat kids, the nerdy kids, the sick kids, and sometimes the girls. It wasn't that he wasn't fit or anything, it was just that he didn't really care or try. Baseball was a snore, football was a little weird (the sweaty men tackling each other part) and no one wanted him on their team for soccer because he still called it soccer not football. Still, today was different. He was going to try his best for Bill's sake. Bill had been kind enough to put himself in Wolf's rampaging path and the least Relics could do in return was try to actually play the game to win rather than take up space and breathe oxygen.

'_It's not like calling it soccer is any different. It's a ridiculous game anyway! Even if your team wins you riot and vandalize everything around you.'_ Relics thought sourly.

"Relics, pay attention!" Bill snapped.

"Oh sorry Bill." Relics said and got in the huddle (to a point). The human was hanging back while Bill went over the battle plan.

"Okay, I'll pass the ball to… darn it, I always forget your name-"

"It's me Falco you ass!" Falco snapped.

"Oh yeah it's the lack of dorky clothes that always gets me." Bill sniggered.

"How are these P.E. uniforms better than my clothes?" Falco squawked.

"Because your mom buys them for you." Slippy said and made the falcon's feathers flare out meaning he was livid. Still, the falcon let that one slide for now and just added that to his reasons to punch Slippy later.

"Okay I'll pass it to Falco, Falco to Kenny, Kenny to Slippy, Slippy to Perry and Perry to Relics. Got it?"

'_Wait, who's Falco?'_

"Got it." Kenny, a white rabbit nodded.

"Whatever." Perry, a green salamander sighed. "Just try not to mess it up, human."

"I'll mess _you_ up." Relics said aloud. He was feeling rather bold since his scuffle with Wolf and the intimidation worked on the salamander. Perry quickly walked away and Relics felt very smug.

'_That's right you slink away! I'll whoop you so bad… wait… how am I supposed to play this game?' _Relics wondered. _'Bill said I was going to get this game but I don't! It looks absolutely stupid!'_

There were five improvised courts in the gymnasium. The courts were marked by small orange caution cones in large rectangles. Relics assumed it was bad to go off court or let the ball do that so he would try to keep it in mind to stay within the cones.

"You're going down Bill!" Steven shouted from the other side of the court.

"Down on your sister maybe- oh shit!" Bill shouted when Steven lugged the ball into play. Bill immediately hunkered down and stopped the ball with his body then the pitbull rolled it to Falco. Relics watched Falco intently so he could figure out how to play this stupid game. When the ball came into range Falco did the strangest thing, he literally back-flipped onto the ball and when he bounced off the ball he sent it to Kenny with great precision and velocity.

'_Now how on Earth am I supposed to do that!?'_

The ball made it to the halfway court where Kenny was and just as he was about to send it to Slippy, Steven's team went on the offensive. They managed to kick the ball away from Perry but sent it right to Bill.

"Relics, this is coming your way!" Bill said as Peter ran straight at Bill while his team covered everyone but Relics.

"No! Send it to-" Relics managed to shout before the ten pound ball came screaming at his face. Relics had no time to react since he wasn't using his enhanced vision. The ball plowed Relics right into his face sending him to the ground and out of bounds since he was hanging off towards the side. A lot of people laughed at the unfortunate human at least until they saw the ball go right to the hockey sized goal at the opposite side end-zones.

"RELICS!" Bill shouted and ran over to the dazed human.

"Who dare? Who dare?" Relics moaned and rubbed his head which he landed on first.

"Relics you just got us ten points!" Bill shouted as he lifted Relics up with no problem.

"But I don't wanna go to school today." Relics groaned incoherently in the cheers of Bill's team. His head was swimming from the massive shock it took from the ball and the hard hit with the ground.

In the game of Pong the objective is to get ten points. There are two ways to get a point. The first is nail a player on the other side and knock him down on the ground and the second is to get the ball to the other team's end-zone goal. How you get the ball into the end-zone goal gives you certain amount of points. If you simply kick it in that's one, if you toss it in that's also one but if you ricochet it off someone by tossing or kicking that's two. The other two ways to score is to back-flip it in which is worth three and to use your body to deflect it in with your head which is five since it is so incredibly dangerous. There was also the amount of points given depending on how far the ball travels. Since Relics was behind the half court when the ball deflected off him it was given a bonus two points and since Bill back-flipped it into Relics' head and it consequently rolled in since Peter's entire team was converging on Bill that was all worth ten points. It was a one time fluke and only happened when the other team was stupid enough to not leave someone on defense.

"That was bullshit! Rematch!" Steven protested.

"Wow he won the game for them?"

"Not the finest way to win but he did it anyway."

"Bill lucked out picking the human."

"Luck was all it was."

Relics' head began to clear up and he noticed he was off the ground and on his feet. _'Oh hey, that's nice.'_

"Did we win?" Relics asked aloud.

"No Relics we all out skunked them!" Bill said as he helped Relics plant his feet. "Come on, let's go kick their asses again!"

"Okay Bill." Relics said as he rubbed his head and walked crookedly.

Pong from that moment on was much easier. As long as Relics didn't pick up the ball and run it there were no wrong ways to move the ball. He used his feet and legs mainly, but didn't score any more points afterwards although he was helpful and assisted to get points a few times. Of course he tried to stay towards the sidelines and out of the way but Bill always used him in his strategies one way or another.

Finally just five minutes before the class was over, Mr. Leeuwarden came back and told everyone to call it a day.

"Great job out there Relics, you're pretty good for a human." Bill panted as sweat made his short grey fur cling to him.

'_Don't touch me whatever you do!'_

"Thanks Bill." Relics replied as he and Bill walked out of the gym to the locker rooms.

"Yeah." Bill said as he lifted his arm.

'_OH NO, NO, NO! DON'T MURDERME!'_ Relics thought as Bill's arm descended. Bill wrapped the sopping wet arm around Relics' back much to the human's silent suffering. To him Bill's sweat was like some sort of dirty acid. The stinging was all in his head and it made him feel very, very dirty.

"This is going to be another fun year." Bill sighed contently.

'_Yeah… fun.'_ Relics thought sarcastically.

~X~X~X~X~

Fox ran downstairs, his school materials on his back, his toothbrush in hand and his phone in the other. Putting his phone down on the kitchen table Fox raided the fridge. There wasn't too much to eat after he raided it last time he was awake, but he did find a big bowl of strawberries. Taking at least two dozen out, Fox put them in a slightly smaller bowl and mashed them up with a potato masher. After that Fox washed the masher, put it away and grabbed a spork. The Cornerians used sporks and knives but the Cornerians perfected the Spork so it would scoop up and hold like the ideal fork and spoon.

"Could use a bit of whipped cream." Fox said aloud but shrugged. Mashed up strawberries plain was good enough. As he ate Fox set his toothbrush down on a paper towel and picked up his phone again. "Let's see what the human can do."

The video started as soon as Fox pressed play. The quality was par but very shaky. Fox saw something grey rush something very white and then was thrown down a locker hallway. Fox chuckled to himself. He hated Wolf's guts and liked watching him get thrown because he was too stupid to suspect the human would know how to fight back.

Then Wolf got back up and then once more rushed Relics but it almost looked like he missed on purpose because of how badly he missed. While Wolf hit air the human struck and Wolf got a muzzle full of human foot then the lupine's head smashed right into the red, hard, metal locker. The fox's muzzle fell and quickly shut again when he realized that he was losing strawberries.

The video moved from the unconscious Wolf to the barely fazed human. Fox pressed pause and studied him. The human didn't look all that mean, his hair was snowy white, his pupils were so grey they looked like they were hard to tell from the whites of his eyes, and he was extraordinarily pale. Fox also saw the Suppressor around the human's neck but like Bill and Falco he shrugged it off as just a normal collar. Lot's of Cornerians wore collars sometimes but who'd think that humans would also wear collars?

"Strange universe." Fox sighed as he pocketed his phone.

~X~X~X~X~

"So Relics, where you off to?" Bill asked but Relics had become fixated with the ceiling.

'_Two hundred and ninety one, two hundred and ninety two, two hundred and ninety three, two hundred ninety four… wow! There are two hundred and ninety four ceiling tiles! Damn that was boring. Oh well, it beats counting how many nearly naked Cornerians there are… one… two-'_

"RELICS!" Bill shouted right next to the human's ear causing Relics to jump out of his pale skin.

"What!? What is it!?" Relics yelped.

"What do you got after this?" Bill chuckled. He liked scarring people and seeing their frightened reactions always made him chuckle.

"Oh… I've got Math, with Mr. Mochas." Relics said as he recollected his schedule which he studied tirelessly as well as the school map he was given. He didn't want to have to ask anybody for help because he wasn't so sure walking up to some skittish Cornerian was the best idea. Not only that, but _he_ was probably the most skittish person in school. He was starting to level out now because he just took out one of the best fighters the school had to offer. Still he was constantly on high alert.

"Well good luck dude, I heard Mr. Mochas is an enema with ice cold water!" Bill said and patted Relics on the shoulder as he put his backpack on.

"So neither you, Falco or Slippy got math then?" Relics asked as he threw his backpack on.

"HELL NO!" Bill over emphasized. "I got Forensic science!" Bill said pride-fully. "I was thinking of becoming a crime scene investigator, if not, a pilot like my pappy."

"That's cool." Relics said. _'If you like boring life stories with a plot as bad as Twilight, one of the worst modern literature of the past!'_

"As for Falco he's got child development-"

"Fuck you Bill!" Falco scowled. Apparently it was true.

"-and Slippy's got shop." Bill explained. "I bet he's going to lose a lot of fingers in that class. Yeah even that one." Bill said when Slippy flipped him off.

'_Great now I can get away from these dumb- wait a minute! I'll be all alone! CRAP!'_

"That's the bell Relics." Bill said before leaving Relics in the cold.

~X~X~X~X~

The human tapped his fingers on his desk impatiently. It seemed that no one other than Bill would find the nerve to talk to him in class but instead they'd talk and whisper about him. Like first and second period, the teacher used the first day of school excuse to get Relics up to the front of the class and introduce himself. It was always so embarrassing, getting up in front of everyone, talking about himself, answering personal and often times, stupid questions.

"What do humans eat?"

"How many humans are there?"

"Why are some humans different colors?"

"Where's your tail?"

"Why'd you beat up Wolf?"

"Do humans lay eggs?"

"Food, lots, genetics, I don't have one, he had it coming, and no we do not lay eggs." Relics replied dully. Those were the questions they all asked and it made his pale skin crawl. To make matters worse, his Suppressor was really beginning to itch but there wasn't much he could do about it. If he took it off, it was curtains.

'_I swear to God that ripping this thing off would be worth it!' _Relics thought bitterly to himself as he itched under the leather collar of death now that he was back at his desk.

"Dude look at him! He's so strange."

"I know, but why doesn't he take that collar off if it itches?"

"Maybe it's a fashion statement?"

"You idiot, what is he stating?"

"That um… well… shut up that's what!"

"Honestly you get stupider every year, Mathew."

'_God, if you actually exist, please, please strike down that black cat and his little dog too!' _Relics said but when he looked at the clock he felt a little better but not all that much. _'Or make it five minutes to go, that will work too. Guess that's easier than hrowing a lightning bolt or a car through the wall or something.'_

"Will you two just shut up!? I'm pretty sure that Relics can hear you."

"As if Tracy! Look at his ears! I bet he can't even hear me now." The collie said getting louder.

"Mathew shut up!" The orange feline (from Relics' second period class) Tracy snapped. She was right though, Relics could hear every word they had been saying and had even caught a few sentences from the teacher. Apparently Mister Mochas already thought of him as a trouble maker and disliked his face.

'_I wonder how much math teachers get paid here. Must be a lot if he thinks he can run his mouth without consequences.'_ Relics thought as he tapped his fingers on the desk harder, whishing he didn't accidently stab himself with his sharpened pencil. Now it wouldn't pierce the old frog for nothing. Maybe it was for the best that Relics didn't have a sharp pointy object though, he only wound up hurting himself with sharp pointy objects it seemed.

"Come on Peter, can't you and Mat just knock it off?" Tracy moaned. She didn't want the human getting any wrong impressions on his first day, but the way those two idiots were acting, he probably already had.

"Tracy you're over reacting. Look at him; he hasn't even looked over this way once. He's just sitting there in the corner like he has been since he sat down. Here, watch this."

"Peter no!" Tracy said but it was too late. A handheld eraser was speeding towards Relics' head. Its flight was straight and true but just as it was within a foot of the human's head it stopped in its hand. It seemed that his hand knew where it was going to be even though Relics didn't move a muscle until the eraser was about to hit him.

"Oh my God." The cat said in disbelief when the human slowly got out of his chair. No one moved or dared to breathe as he walked over towards the black cat, his footsteps echoed across the room. The human's hands were clenched tightly and his knuckles were whiter because of it. When Relics came within ten feet of the black cat, it took off. The feline didn't even bother to grab his stuff, he just ran for all he was worth.

'_Run pussy… cat.'_ Relics mused to himself then looked at the dog.

"Mathew, could you give this to your friend Peter for me?" Relics asked and handed the eraser to the trembling dog.

"Y-y-yeah s-sure." Mathew stuttered and pocketed the eraser.

"Have a nice day, Tracy." Relics said as the bell rang.

"I think he heard us." Mathew whispered as quietly as he could.

'_Yeah I kind of did… dumbass.'_ Relics thought as he went to grab his things. Relics wasn't really planning on making a big deal of things. In fact he only planned on messing with Peter's mind, but watching him run out of the classroom with his tail between his legs was still funny.

"Have a nice day, Mister Mochas." Relics said to the petrified frog before he walked out the door. Relics half whished Mr. Mochas would have done something, but luckily for the old frog, he stayed out of it.

'_Well that was fun spelt with a ph. Still it was funny watching him run out so fast. Of course I can't blame him, I did take out Wolf who apparently is a mean son of a bitch. Speaking of which I hope he's in a coma cause I don't want to have to kick his ass every day- what the hell!?'_ Relics thought and for some reason his wrist com began to make strange beeping and ringing noises. At first he thought it was going to explode so he tried to take it off but he accidently opened the little flap and saw a little holographic envelope. _'Oh thank god! It's just a text!'_

Relics fiddled with his wrist com for a while but he couldn't get it to work the way he wanted it to. He brought up the built in MP3 player, instant messaging, text and even called someone named Cherry but for the life of him he could not find his inbox.

'_Like I even need half this junk on here! I got my own music player in my backpack, I don't like anyone so I'm not going to IM them, and texting is annoying. All those tiny little buttons! There we go. All right then let's see what it says.'_

"_**Hey there sexy beast."**_

Relics' left eye twitched a bit but he soon got over his ruptured brain cells. He pressed the reply button on his wrist com and typed _**"I think you have the wrong person."**_

'_That's just creepy. Glad it wasn't for me-'_

"_**Oh do I, Relics?"**_

'_Okay… getting a little afraid.' _Relics thought as he closed his wrist com so no one would see. But then he realized just who it was behind the creeper texts. _'Damn it Bill, you're annoying even when you're not around!'_

Shrugging the strange canine's texts off his mind, Relics proceeded to fifth period. As he opened the door his wrist com did its little jingle but he ignored it. Just Bill and his shenanigans, either that or it was Falco messing with him. Relics didn't suspect Slippy for a second because he didn't seem to be the type. Still, even though it was Bill, Relics didn't like it at all. It made him feel even more watched and like a side show for all the animals around him.

'_Damn it, stop ringing!'_ Relics thought as he opened the wrist com and pressed the end button when it wouldn't stop ringing. Inside the wrist com was a projector, a keyboard where he could text and or dial in a number. The keyboard was a Cornerian keyboard but the keys were translated into human alphabetic symbols.

Finally the annoyed human made it to his fifth period class and the teacher greeted him sort of pleasantly and yet cautiously.

"A-Are you the exchange student?"

'_Ain't that the million dollar question?'_ Relics thought as he nodded.

"Great… sit anywhere you want."

'_Moron.'_ Relics thought as he went to take his seat in the corner of the classroom. Since his video taped introduction to Wolf, it seemed that people were even more afraid of Relics. They kept their whispers to such low volumes Relics had to stress to hear them but he didn't because honestly he didn't care and he liked not hearing what they were saying.

'_Finally, some peace and- SONS OF BITCHES!'_ Relics thought but his phone started ringing halfway through his relaxing. This time Relics opened up the wrist com and read the messages.

"_**I wanted to say sorry for the trouble Wolf might have caused you, he's such an asshole which is why I dumped him ;)"**_

'_Winky face!?'_

"_**I also wanted to know if you are alright and if there was… anything I could do for you… ;3"**_

'_Okay I am totally freaked out now!'_ Relics thought as he glared at the winking three face. Relics shook his head. It was obviously Bill, it had to be Bill. No one else would possibly have his number since Bill was the only one to have called him.

'_**Okay Bill, it was funny but you're busted. Enough man.'**_Relics thought as he typed it in.

"Phones and communicators away class." The teacher, a rather old and rather wrinkly chimpanzee said. Relics closed his wrist com and only a few seconds later did it go off again. Everyone stared at him and he shamefully pressed end.

"Sorry, it has a mind of its own." Relics mumbled as he closed his wrist com.

"It's all right mister McCloud… McCloud?" Mrs. Crabtree said strangely. Like everyone else, the fact that his name was also McCloud shocked her.

"He prefers Relics though, Mrs. Crabtree." A vixen with large ears said with her hand raised.

"I see. Is that true?" Mrs. Crabtree asked.

"Relics is fine by me." Relics replied.

"I see… and where does the name Relics come from?" Mrs. Crabtree asked.

Relics bit his lips. He already dug up that wound once today. Sure Relics was an off the wall name, but it was his father's name and God will damn him to Hell long before he doesn't take pride in his father. If it weren't for his father he wouldn't be alive as well as the hundreds of lives on the mass transporter trying to evacuate civilians.

"It was his father's name ma'am." The vixen said quickly before Relics could reply.

"Interesting Fara. Well Relics, what was your father… never mind let's just get on to today's lesson." Mrs. Crabtree said when she saw the Fara's discreet signs telling her no. "Today class I want you to-"

"Mrs. Crabtree please report to the front desk." A voice over the intercom said suddenly.

The old chimp sighed. "Class I'll be right back."

Just as the door closed Relics got another message.

'_Oh God, what does he want now?'_

Relics opened up his wrist com and viewed the last two messages.

"_**Yeah right, Bill wishes he were me."**_

'_Oh crap.'_

"_**So you don't believe me? Well does Bill look anything like this?"**_

Relics cocked an eyebrow. He had no idea what he or she was talking about. How would he know what his creeper stalker looked like? Then he got a picture in his inbox.

'_Do I dare open this picture mail? Maybe… I guess I could but what if it's Bill's ugly face!? Still, this doesn't feel like Bill anymore… what do I do? These Cornerians and their freaky dickey mind games will be the death of me! You know what? Screw it! No pain no gain.' _Relics thought and then opened the picture mail.

The file opened and Relics nearly had an aneurism from what he saw. A minx, a very familiar minx at that, was lying on her bed wearing nothing but her salacious smile. Her tail curled from underneath her onto her stomach, her shoulder long hair was messy and she had a body that made even Relics gap. But the most enticing part was her eyes. They were so red in the picture they were like rubies.

'_Holy shit it's Lana!' _Relics thought as he closed the wrist com and flushed with strange feelings. He knew what those feelings were, and before he could blink he tried to force them out. There was no way he'd live down becoming aroused by a Cornerian. But the damage was done.

'_God I'm so sick!'_ Relics thought as he held his head in his hands and thought of unsexy thoughts, but Lana's eyes bore into his mind like two red lasers.


	6. Fun Zone

Relics moved like a ghost through the school halls. He didn't bump into anyone mainly because they all acted fast to move out of his way. If he wasn't so mesmerized on the messages and the picture he'd gotten from Lana, he would have noticed no one was whispering about him, they all got out of his way and they just stared attentively. As soon as they were sure he was out of earshot did they start whispering about him, but not a second before. News had circulated faster than a viral pandemic about how Relics heard somebody talking about him. It was also rumored that he beat the crap out of them and when Mr. Mochas tried to stop the fight Relics threw him through a wall.

Still, Relics didn't care; he was more concerned with what Lana had just done. He'd never thought that he'd actually be in this kind of situation but now he had some crazy Cornerian girl sending nude pictures of herself to him.

'_Madness. That's all this is. Why did I ever agree to come here in the first place? I hate it here! I'm surrounded by my enemies and I have to be nice!? They're not even human! Why should I have to… no. I can't think like this, I promised I'd do my best to represent humanity and it only makes it harder on me if I can't adjust while I'm here. Anyways, why was I so- DAMN IT!'_ Relics shouted in his head when the image of Lana naked flashed across his mind. Quickly he shunned Lana out of his mind and thought of a cold shower before his hormones got the best of him and he pitched a tent in the middle of the hallway. Her body was so much like a regular woman's body. She had all the salacious features, perfect bust and a figure that was about to drive him up a wall even if her body was completely covered in fur, she had a slightly bushy tail, she looked just like a cat and above all wasn't human.

'_Son of a bitch! Why does she haunt me like this? Every time I close my eyes I see hers staring back at me, calling to me almost.' _Relics thought as he shivered. _'She has beautiful eyes though- NO! STOP THAT! Stop thinking of her! Just stop right now! If you don't think about her she can't bother you.'_

"Hi, Relics!" An all too familiar voice said behind the human.

'_FFFFFFUCK!'_

Relics stopped in his tracks. This girl sure was tenacious, if she couldn't get to him through his phone she got him in person. The human swallowed the lump in his throat and turned around.

"Hello, Lana." Relics said as his eyes became captives of Lana's deep red rubies mistakenly called eyes. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he started to get a nervous muscle spasm in his left calf. She was cute for a Cornerian; her long shoulder length hair looked so soft and light, her eyelashes were long and curved at the tips, and her fur was well kept and combed. If she was a real house cat, Relics would have petted her on the spot but he wasn't sure she'd like that… than again maybe she would.

"Hi Relics." Lana repeated and showed him her pearly white, slightly pointy teeth. She had a pretty smile, borderline beautiful; too bad she was a Cornerian. As Relics opened his mouth to speak Lana beat him to it. "I saw what you did to Wolf."

"Yeah, sorry for beating up your boyfriend." Relics said rather snippety but Lana didn't take it personally; she thought he was playing.

"Oh no worries, he's not my boyfriend anymore, I'm single. In fact, I kind of admired how easily you fought him off." Lana said and winked. "It was very debonair."

"Well uh…." Relics said, he was completely caught off guard by her wink. Her wink might not have even been intentional, it could have been an involuntary spasm like what his calf was doing but all the same it struck the human as much as the picture in his wrist com. And speaking of the picture. "Um Lana?"

"Yes Relics?" Lana asked. She seemed as innocent as a kitten and it almost made Relics think twice about mentioning the picture.

"What was with earlier?" Relics asked.

Lana blinked. "You mean in the cafeteria? Was I too out forward? I'm very sorry if I was."

"No, I mean like, just a few moments ago." Relics said trying to pussyfoot around until she understood. This whole conversation was uncomfortable as well as awkward and there a million other conversations Relics would rather be having then this one.

"A few minutes ago? You're funny Relics." Lana giggled. "A few minutes ago we were in class and I was hoping to see you on the way to sixth period!"

'_Okay either she doesn't want to mention it or… I don't have a clue.'_

Still, Relics couldn't shake the feeling that she knew what had happened. He opened his mouth to confront her but his wrist com went off before the first syllable escaped his mouth.

'_What the?'_

"Sounds like you got a text. I must say you're rather popular. I heard Melina had Falco give you her number." Lana said as Relics failed to understand how and why his phone was going off. If the text was from the same person then Lana was innocent.

"Uh huh." Relics said instinctively when he paid the slightest bit of attention.

"Listen I don't want to worry you but you should be careful. There are a lot of women here that would love to get close to you just for the attention everyone who sees you two together will give."

'_Interesting, although how do I know you won't do the same? As if I'd give you a chance though!' _Relics added quickly despite the lack of need to but for some strange reason in the back of his mind he felt like he needed to.

"Melina is a really sweet girl though, she's been my friend for ages and I can vouch for her." Lana added so not to appear as though she was saying Melina was like those "other" women.

"Thanks Lana, I'll be careful." Relics said and pressed the mute button on his wrist com. "You wanna walk to class together?" The human only asked this because he wanted to see if he'd get more texts with her around and if he did she didn't send him that text at all. But to Lana what he asked of her was like mixing her birthday and Christmas into one sentence. She seemed to course with joy and her impression almost made the human smile.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Lana exclaimed gleefully as her tail whisked around with joy behind her.

"Great we can talk some more along the way." Relics said as Lana walked right up to Relics' side. She was so close that they brushed up against each other several times as they walked down the halls and Relics could smell her sweet perfume. Relics almost thought she was a normal human high school girl for a second and in that second he slipped.

"You smell nice." Relics stated aloud.

_'Oh my God! What!? You don't just come out and say that you creeper! What is wrong with you!? I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!'_ Relics mentally shouted.

"Why thank you, it's Zoness Lily Flower." Lana giggled and started to blush under her fur. "My parents sent it to me."

"You don't live with your parents? Who do you live with?" Relics asked.

"Oh I do live with my parents but they have a business they have to manage on Zoness so sometimes they can be gone for days or in this case… weeks." Lana said and even Relics caught the sadness that leaked out in her voice. "I don't mind really, but sometimes it can get a little lonely."

"Yeah I know the feeling." Relics said before he mentally face palmed himself over and over until he started to get a headache.

"I heard about what happened… to your father Relics." Lana said stopping in her tracks in the middle of the nearly deserted hallway. Relics stopped to and got trapped in her gorgeous sympathetic eyes as he was once again unable to resist in the slightest. "I am truly sorry about what happened to you, your planet, and your father because of what my people wrongfully did."

Relics blinked twice as the feelings rushed over him. He had never expected a Cornerian to say sorry to his face in such a convincing way. Like his own people, the Cornerians were trying to brush the whole indiscretion under the carpet and forget about it. Yet Lana actually said she was sorry even if it wasn't her fault but an ape named Andross.

Relics swallowed. "Thanks, Lana." Relics whispered.

Lana smiled faintly as she started to feel hot and burn red around her cheeks and muzzle.

"Was your mother harmed in the attack?" She asked concernedly.

"No, well maybe… I don't know." Relics said and scratched under his Suppressor on the back of his neck. "I never met her really."

Lana's muzzle dropped and her eyes became soft and at the same time sad. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, my dad is- was a good enough parent." Relics said biting his tongue so his eyes didn't ruin the mystique or fear he'd been able to make for himself and besides, men don't cry.

"So um… when are you going back home?" Lana asked.

"A month after school's out." Relics replied, grateful for the subject change.

"Oh good, you'll be here for a while then." Lana said as she and the human walked off to sixth period side by side still occasionally brushing up against each other, the dark and sad thoughts of their species' first contact put behind them.

~X~X~X~X~

Fox walked nonchalantly through the school courtyard. He finally made it to school and just in time for sixth period. Hopefully he'd be able to keep the human out of harm's way more so than Bill or Falco. To be honest Fox wasn't sure he really wanted to help out the human. He'd heard a lot about humans from his dad and soldiers who were part of the initial invasion. They said that the humans that were trained to fight were incredibly dangerous and would show no mercy when protecting their citizens. The human soldiers were ruthless, tactical, dangerous, well trained, and formidable in all planes of combat. Still, Fox promised his dad that he and his friends would watch out for the human, more for everyone else's sake than for the human's.

As Fox walked to the massive B building he thought of the Human Skirmish as his people called it, how it was all Andross' fault for jumping the gun wanting to test out some crazed invention that that leveled a smaller human city in one blast. When General Pepper received word of Andross' disastrous error he and his forces were immediately recalled. Many didn't make it back but the humans did return all Cornerians taken captive after the negotiations were completed. For the most part the humans took standard care of the POW's, but there were several in critical conditions from either improper nourishment or injuries from interrogation.

The human and Cornerian contact from then on was peaceful but one wrong move and everything could fall apart and war would break out. Peaceful or not, the negotiations were strained and were yielding hardly any results. Not only that, but ever since Andross' banishment, he'd been gaining more and more sympathy and support from systems within the Lylat who did not agree with how the Cornerian government was submitting to many human demands.

As Fox made it to B building his phone started to go off. He pulled it out of his pants pocket and put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"OH MY GOD FOX, WHERE ARE YOU!?"

At first Fox thought he had his phone volume turned up but he actually had it turned almost all the way down.

"Walking into B building right now and wishing I wasn't bleeding from the ears." Fox groaned as he held the phone away from his ear. "Who is this?"

"It's me, silly!" Miyu said but then shouted. "You will not believe this but Lana's made a move on the human!"

"Really?" Fox asked in disbelief. "Wow."

"I know! I just saw them walking down the hallway together! They look so cute together I almost couldn't believe it!" Miyu said excitedly. "And Lana looked so happy, I haven't seen her this happy since… since… I don't think she _has_ been this happy before! He may be a human but he's still a one up from Wolf. Still, he better watch himself cause if he hurts Lana-"

"Miyu, Lana knows how to take care of herself. I'd pay to see what she would do to him if he tried anything stupid." Fox laughed.

"Oh Fox you're so right." Miyu laughed thinking of Lana roundhouse kicking the human in the face. "Listen I got to go but I love you and I'll try not to kill you today, 'kay?"

"M'kay Miyu, I love you too." Fox said as he hung up. He really hoped Miyu would at least try not to kill him because he could never raise a finger to Miyu let alone a gun. Still there were others to kill and the human would be great sport.

'_Oh this is going to be a fun year.'_ Fox thought as he walked into B building.

~X~X~X~X~

'_Wow, this girl is something else; she's almost… well, fun would be the best word. Yeah, she's fun to be around. Her voice isn't annoying, she has great stories, she isn't in any way repulsive and she is as comfortable around me as Bill is. I almost hate to believe she sent me that picture… or did she? I can't really just whip out my wrist com and look at my messages can I? It's rude and what if there are more pictures of her, she sees them and yet she didn't send them to me? It probably would creep her out and she'd get pretty pissed at me… not that I care though.' _Relics added quickly trying to lie to himself.

"So Relics, how are you enjoying your stay? Have you been to any fun places?" Lana asked.

"I have, only thing is they weren't so fun when everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at me… kind of like right now." Relics said when he noticed a large cluster of Cornerians staring at him like he had some sort of mutant insect on his face. It's such a great feeling when that happens.

"Don't worry, everyone will get used to you. It just takes a little time." Lana said as they walked past the group.

"I guess…" Relics said and wondered if he should ask her why she was so comfortable around him when everyone else was sure he was going to snap and start killing people. Like in first period when he sneezed and freaked out the entire class. _'Nice.'_

"You must be wondering why I am so comfortable around you huh?" Lana asked suddenly as they brushed up against each other again.

'_Holy shit, she's psychic!'_

"Um well, it is a little odd- not bad odd! I like that you're not cowering in a corner or anything." Relics added quickly. "But why _are_ you so comfortable around me?"

Lana smiled. "Well to tell you the truth I was absolutely mortified of you before we met but then I saw you, a scared lost soul wading through his worst nightmare. I don't know I just felt like I had to reach out to you when no one else will. I told my friends I we should talk to you but they thought I was trying to flirt with you. Sorry if they made you feel uncomfortable at lunch." Lana said rather quietly.

There was a long silence between the two after that and Relics was panicking. If she saw through him so easily then other people could see his fear and the tremendous stress he was under. Someone finding out that he was afraid was what Relics feared most. If they all knew he was afraid of them more than they were afraid of him he was doomed.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to embarrass you." Lana said as Relics held the door to B building for her.

"No, no! you didn't. It's just that was pretty deep and insightful." Relics said casually like Lana hadn't hit the red alert button in his mind.

"Thank you." She said sweetly to Relics for holding the door. "But that's what I get for being a minx. We're supposedly a very insightful at long ago considered somewhat mystical." Lana said.

"Lana I don't mean to be rude but, what is a minx? You don't look like most other felines." He asked hoping to start a different topic.

"Oh… well you see Relics, on Corneria dating another species is pretty common and accepted here,-"

'_Where have I heard that before?' _Relics thought sarcastically.

"-and a minx is the offspring of a male fox and female feline." Lana explained. "My red eyes are from my father's side of the family. It's not because I'm possessed or evil, I promise you." Lana said with a serious yet playful tone.

"They're really pretty." Relics blurted out and he felt like he got stabbed by lightning.

'… _What… did you just… say?'_ His inner psyche asked as he was on the verge of an aneurism.

"You think my eyes are… pretty?" Lana asked. The minx's face was completely vague like she had just seen the most spectacular thing in her life and couldn't comprehend it. She seemed close to tears as her eyes started to water and glisten making Relics feel another stab to his lower gut.

"I uh… I didn't mean to offend you Lana." Relics said when he got it in his mind that Lana was offended by his compliment. He was in no way further from the truth and he realized that as soon as Lana wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed tightly.

'_Oh my god what is she doing? Don't just stand there! Get her off! Get her… hold the phone… she's pretty warm- WAIT A MINUTE! What am I thinking!? I can't be thinking like– wow she is __**really**__ warm and she smells so sweet… her hair is so soft and her fur is so smooth. I guess this isn't so bad.' _Relics thought after he calmed down and then he returned the hug almost against his will… almost. He really needed this hug, it was nerve settling and he was able to stop worrying about being on an alien planet while the moment lasted.

"You're warm, are all humans so warm?" Lana purred.

"Not all the time." Relics said who was tuning red rapidly.

'_I… I can't believe I'm actually doing this with a Cornerian! It's so wrong, so bizarre and yet so nice. I guess I she's tolerable. But wait, what about the picture and the texts? Can I really be friends with a person that slu- …that way?'_

After a few minutes Lana spilt them apart and smiled. "We better get to class before-" Lana said but was interrupted by the bell. "Oh crap! Come on Relics, we got to go." Lana said grabbing his hand and started hauling him to class.

"Wait you go on ahead, I need to check something real quick." Relics said blushing even redder now that she was holding his hand. Her pads were so soft and so silky smooth, it was like touching a marshmallow.

Lana let him go and gave him a concerned look. "Okay Relics, but please hurry; _he _doesn't like it when people are really late to class."

"I'll be right there." Relics replied not exactly all that worried about whoever hated people being late to his class. The human waited until the minx was too far away to see his hologram projected messages. Keeping one eye on her, Relics pulled up the most recent and last message.

"_**You still there, cutie?"**_

Relics frowned and pushed delete all messages, including the picture. "So it wasn't her after all." He said aloud angrily. And to think he almost called her out on it. Whoever it was that sent it though, Relics would make them pay for trying to screw with him.

~X~X~X~X~

"Where is he? Damn it why did I go and lose my phone?" Bill asked as he kept his eyes locked on the door for the tardy human.

Falco shook his head. "Because you're an idiot but he'd better get here before-"

"Toe line, get there!" A leopard said as he strolled casually to the group of twenty five Cornerians. The students did what they were told and formed a long straight line so that the leopard could walk down and inspect everyone. Once he reached the end he asked a German Sheppard. "Daniel, have you seen our human friend?"

"No sir!" The canine said frightfully like the leopard was holding a gun to his face.

The leopard nodded. "Has anyone seen him?"

"No sir." The whole class responded.

"Great, he's skipping." The leopard said and started walking down the line but counted everyone this time. "Twenty five not including the-" The leopard said right as the door opened to the Auxiliary room. "Twenty six, not including the human… Ms. Tress. Why are we so late?"

Lana's ears drooped and she quickly scurried to the leopard. "Sorry Captain Fritz, I was uh… held up."

"Held up by what I wonder?" Captain Fritz asked just as Relics walked through the door. The leopard growled and growled in his throat. "Is he the reason you're late?"

"Oh no sir, it's not like that!" Lana gasped.

"Uh huh." The leopard said as he nodded slowly.

"Sir-"

"Stand by." Captain Fritz said as he went to introduce himself to the human.

'_Holy crap! What the Hell is this place?' _Relics thought to himself as he gaped at the large room packed with stuff. He saw a lot of Cornerians standing in front of a long shooting range but to their left was a massive simulated war zone with an added hint of destruction. The war zone had laser holes, burns, fake blood (or so Relics hoped), foxholes and crude barricades for cover, towers, broken fences and heaps of rubble for effect. As Relics eyed the war zone he completely missed the massive obstacle course next to the shooting range and he missed the leopard that walked right up to him.

"First things first human, I won't take any bullshit from you and I won't be giving you any special treatment just because you come from another planet." The leopard growled at Relics.

'…'

"Second of all, you will address me as sir, everything you say to me will end with sir, or I'll show your disrespectful ass one Hell of a hard time you got that?" The leopard growled as he got right in the human's face without any fear in his burning yellow eyes.

"Yes sir." Relics said instinctively which was lucky for him.

"Good, my name is Captain Fritz and welcome to Auxiliary class. Play by the rules, behave yourself and I might let you live _Snowflake_." The leopard hissed.

'… _Holy shit a competent teacher- wait what!? SNOWFLAKE!?'_

"Wait here." Captain Fritz growled as he walked off to the students who were all on time.

'_SNOWFLAKE!?' _Relics shouted in his head as he clenched his hands so tightly his nails were about to puncture his skin.

"Alright shut the Hell up!" Captain Fritz hissed even thought nobody was talking.

'_SNOWFLAKE?'_ Relics thought but then looked at his arms. _'Yeah I see where that comes from. Fucking Cornerians. It's not my fault I can't get any color! I've sat in the sun for five hours on a hot summer day and I didn't burn or so much as freckle! Snowflake… GAH! FUCK YOU RIGHT UP YOUR-'_

"All right everyone, today is the first day of school so I'll take it easy on you." The leopard grunted as he paced back to the group of on time students. "Today we are going to watch the tardy people in the Fun Zone and if we've got time we'll play some paintball."

"Yes!" Relics heard Bill mutter under his breath.

'_Oh boy paintball, is that what was so awesome that Bill couldn't tell me? Although it is strange for a school to have a paintball program but then again, nothing that I've seen or been through today is what I'd call normal. And just what is a Fun Zone?'_ Relics thought to himself indifferently.

"Snowflake get over here." Captain Fritz said which got a humorous rise out of the students, especially Bill.

"Snowflake!? Oh my God! How did I not see that? Guess what Relics, new nickname for life!" Bill said as he held his sides from bursting from so much laughing.

Relics wanted nothing more than to beat Captain Fritz's head in with Bill's severed arms, but attacking an instructor after maiming a student would be less justifiable then his fight with Wolf. So instead, Relics ground his teeth and dug his nails further into his palm as he marched towards the smug leopard. Captain Fritz motioned at Lana and she immediately walked over to him and stood next to Relics.

"All right, which one of you will be first?" Captain Fritz asked.

Relics looked at Lana to see if she wanted to but she seemed absolutely terrified, she was clearly shaking, her tail was dead weight, her pupils were dilated, and she was clutching her own hand very tightly for support. How could anything called the Fun Zone not be fun? Still, Relics felt sorry for her, sorry enough to volunteer.

"I'll do it sir." Relics said looking back at Captain Fritz.

The leopard smiled. "Excellent, follow me than everyone."

'_Ho boy, this is a boring class.'_ Relics thought as he and the rest of the class followed Captain Fritz towards the rather large and precarious obstacle course. _'How did I miss that? Man I am so off today!'_

"All right Snowflake," Captain Fritz said and Relics started ginding his teeth together again, "this is the Fun Zone, it is probably one of the most hardcore and painful obstacle courses you will ever experience. There are rope swings, monkey bars, mud pits that you must jump over," Captain Fritz said and took a breath.

'_Well that doesn't sound too bad.'_ Relics thought to himself.

"-and there are lasers, trap doors to pits of death, pits of murder-"

'_What's the difference?'_

"-the wall of bruising and of course at the end there is a surprise… any questions?" Captain Fritz asked with a smug smile.

'_Uh yeah, can Lana go first instead?'_

"No? Good. Only people who are late _have_ to run through it but those who want some extra credit can do it as well. Since this is your first time, I'll leave the traps turned off."

'_That's just super; you know how awesome you are guy? I mean really you deserve a round of applause. No. You're not an asshole at all!'_ Relics thought sarcastically as he walked towards the obstacle course but the leopard stopped him before he took a second step.

"Oh and give us a good show, we're all going to be watching you." Captain Fritz said and pointed at a large television screen with Relics on it.

'_FFFFFFUUUUUUUUCK!'_

"How far you think he'll get?"

"He won't get past the rope swings I'd bet."

"You might be right; he doesn't look like he has too much upper body strength."

'_I'll show you upper body strength when I bitch slap you all the way back to Earth, Bill.'_ Relics thought to himself as he walked to the start line. The obstacle course was a straight run and hopefully it would be as easy as a straight run.

"Go when you're ready." Captain Fritz purred. He was going to enjoy watching the human crash and burn.

Relics popped his neck both ways, dropped his backpack by the ramp and then walked up the ramp which was the beginning of the Fun Zone. The second he reached the top he heard something make a snap and he jumped forward narrowly avoiding a wooden foot to his hindquarters.

'_Glad he thought to mention that.'_ Relics thought as he proceeded forward to the rope swings. _'Seems simple enough.'_ Relics thought as he grabbed the first rope swing and then all the other ropes began to swing left to right.

'_The fuck!?'_ Relics thought to himself. The human waited a minute but when the ropes didn't stop swaying left to right Relics swore again and went for it. He clenched his rope tightly as he swung forward. When he reached maximum swing he reached out for the next rope but missed. Relics began to fall but he barely managed to catch himself before he hit the hard looking floor some six feet below.

Relics readjusted himself he was ready to try again. When he reached maximum swing he went for it but went all out to grab the next rope so he hopefully wouldn't miss again. His fingers grazed the rope and he grabbed the rope in a death grip. The human hung on to the rope and waited for the next. From there on out it was rather easy, just frightening. He made it to the other side in just four minutes.

'_Well that was easy.'_ Relics thought as he moved on to the monkey bars but like the test before, the second he touched the first bar the monkey bars began to move only they moved up and down unlike the rope swings. Relics looked down; if he messed up here he'd land in some really nasty looking water.

Relics sighed. _'Okay mental note. Just because a girl looks sad, doesn't mean you have to volunteer to go first.'_

Relics reached out for the next bar and soon found himself in quite a predicament. The monkey bar that he grabbed onto was now lurching up and down making it hard to maintain a firm grip.

'_Ow my arm!'_ Relics thought as he tried to reach out but the monkey bar lurched and tried to yank his arm out its socket. But Relics wouldn't be beaten here, not with the whole class watching him and probably recording his labors on their phones the pricks.

The snowy haired human growled in his throat as he waited for the next lurch. When the lurch went down he reached out again and quickly grabbed a hold of the next monkey bar before it yanked his arm. He repeated this routine until he reached the end but his arms were extremely sore and tired at the end but that wasn't too much of a problem since he didn't need to use his arms in the next obstacle.

"Okay." Relics panted and jumped over the five foot wide mud pit to the platform on the other side. "OH COME ON!" Relics shouted when the next platform started moving back and forth. "You know, I am starting to see a pattern here." Relics growled to himself as he readied for his next jump. Hoping his timing was right Relics jumped to the moving platform. His timing was sort of right, he did make it to the platform but his left leg slipped a little and he got his new shoes muddy.

'_Great, out of the box new and I get mud all over them.'_ Relics scowled in his head. Relics stood up with ease now that the platform had stopped moving but the five in front of it kept moving, all of which were faster than the last.

'_Oh what I wouldn't give to have played more Frogger before this.'_ Relics thought as he prepared for his next jump…

'_Ruined, both completely ruined.'_ Relics thought to himself as his muddy shoes made squishy noises every step of the way to the next course which strangely was just a small six foot wide corridor without a ceiling and had a metal door at the end of it.

'_Oh well not like it can get any worse.'_ Relics thought as he crossed the threshold of the hallway. _'Wow what do you know? Nothing hap- OH COME ON!'_ Relics thought when the massive maze of red lasers turned on.

"This has got to be the _worst_ class ever." Relics said aloud as he stepped over a knee high laser. The lasers hummed in the human's ears as he ducked, dipped, stepped, crawled and crept through the laser trap but down the line he started thinking of the Mission Impossible music which was fun at first until it wouldn't stop replaying in his head over and over. The lasers were by far the worst of the obstacles by far and he couldn't wait till he got to the door at the end. As Relics crawled under a laser he came to what seemed like the end. It took the human several minutes but he finally managed to reach the end unscathed and all the lasers shut off. The human sighed with relief while his heart tried to burst out of his chest. Without another second's hesitation he turned the doorknob and moved on to the next obstacle.

The next obstacle looked fairly simple; there was no floor except the six inches on the left wall which had several holes in it and shot glass sized bumps on the wall. The human weighed his options before trying to walk along the wall. The jump was too long for him to make, he couldn't jump down and climb up the other side since he couldn't see what was down in the hole and there was no other way around.

"What's next I wonder?" Relics said indifferently. No sooner had he touched the wall did several boxing gloves come shooting out of the holes Relics figured were for supporting himself on. It now seemed the small shot glass sized holds were the only way he'd be able to hold himself onto the wall.

"Hmm. Wall of Bruising… I get it now." Relics said monotonously to himself.

Relics started to inch forward and came to his first boxing glove. He held onto one of the little holds on the wall and waited for the glove to shoot out and then go back in. The glove shot out and slowly went back in and he quickly moved on forward. Unfortunately he didn't think of the boxing glove at head level when he moved past the first boxing hole. The unsuspecting human got a face full of glove and barely held onto the holds.

"Ow that-" Relics said before the glove shot out again and nailed him in the nose. Learning from that double fail, the human chose to duck down and now the glove was just punching at air.

~X~X~X~X~

"Wow he sure is getting far." Miyu said as she and Fox watched together on the large T.V. screen. They sat next to each other in chairs Captain Fritz had Bill haul in because of his outbursts he made in line.

"Yeah, not too many people get past the monkey bars and yet he's at the wall of bruising." Fox said wrapping his arm around the lynx.

"Do you think Lana will do as good?" Miyu asked as she looked at the minx. She had not taken her eyes off the screen since Relics was on it. Miyu on the other hand was more concerned about Lana then the human and saw several instances where when Relics succeeded Lana's tail would swish around like a kit's and she got really giddy.

"Are you kidding? Lana is the one person in this room I'm more afraid of then Captain Fritz." Fox laughed as Relics got punched in the stomach. "Ooh, that human can sure take a- damn that hurt!" Fox groaned when Relics got punched in the eye.

"Do you think we should say something to her?" Miyu asked as Relics just made it halfway across.

"Why?" Fox asked and looked at Lana who was just out of earshot. The highly attractive minx was on the edge of her chair, she was biting her claws, her tail looked like a furry agitated snake, and her fur was standing in several places. "Oh… I see what you mean. I guess if you want to-" Fox said as Miyu began to pull him out of the chair.

"Oh! Dude he took that one right to his crotch!" Fox heard Bill laugh out loud. Fox rolled his eyes and kept his mind focused on Lana.

"Hey girl, what's how's it going?" Miyu asked as she sat next to the minx. Lana's red eyes strayed from the television and were full of fear as they looked into Miyu's blue eyes.

"Um… alright, Miyu. How are you and Fox?" She asked as her leg jumped up and down furiously.

"We're okay; we were just a little worried about you." Fox said as he sat down next to Miyu still holding her hand.

"Me!? Why? What makes you need to worry about me?" Lana asked like she had something to hide; only problem was she wasn't hiding anything. Even if her leg wasn't jumping, her hair wasn't on end and she wasn't gnawing her nails they could almost feel her fear radiating off of her. Miyu and Fox just gave her a concerned look and Lana broke down.

"Oh you're right!" Lana burst out. "I'm a mess! I've never had to do the Fun Zone my entire life and Relics can barely do it! I mean look at him! The way he takes that punch, it's almost like it doesn't affect him and he keeps holding on. I on the other hand-"

"Lana, you of all people can do this, you're fast, you're strong and you're one of the best here at paintball." Miyu reassured.

"I guess." Lana said as her ears perked up a little.

"You've got the stuff Lana, I'm sure you'll wow even the human."

The minx nodded as she shifted from distressed to as cocky as Bill and Falco combined. "Miyu when it's my turn will you watch him and make absolute sure he watches me?" Lana asked which was a pretty strange to the lynx. Why did she want the human to be watching her?

"Uh, sure, we'll make sure… why?" Miyu asked.

"Because I'm going ask him on a date when I finish." Lana said as Relics made it past the Wall of Bruising.

~X~X~X~X~

Relics clamped down on his nose to keep it from bleeding. All in all, the human took twelve hits and some were starting to bruise but he managed to make it through without falling. Relics looked ahead and saw that he was only another sixty meters away from the end. The path to the end was metal with four foot by six foot floorboards and below them was a long ten foot drop into more mud.

"Did they make this long enough?" Relics groaned and checked his nose again; it stopped bleeding so he took a step forward and strangely nothing happened. _'Well all right, things are finally going-'_ Relics thought but heard a loud crack behind him. The human quickly turned around just in time to see the next trap.

"OH, SHIT!" Relics shouted when the floorboard behind him dropped like a trapdoor. Without thinking the human started running as fast as he could but his running was barely keeping the one step he had ahead of the falling floors behind him. The loud cracking sounds rang in his ears, slowly getting louder and louder like a predator's breath on its prey.

Relics was panting heavily by the time he made it halfway. The Suppressor around his neck was draining him of his energy and speed. If he didn't have it on he would have made it to the end by the time the fourth floorboard fell. Despite this, Relics kept going. He didn't want to lose here, not now that he was so close to the end. The human strained himself and pushed himself harder and harder but that only kept him two steps ahead of the trapdoors. As he drew close to the end his heart was pounding in his ears, his lungs could not get enough air and he began to slow. His two step lead quickly fell back to one step and the pressure doubled.

'_Almost… almost… ALMOST!'_ Relics thought to himself as he came closer to the end. Victory was so close but defeat hounded his heels. Resorting to desperate measures the human jumped. To him he flew in slow motion and he saw the last floorboard fall prematurely as he flew over it. When the human landed, he hit pretty hard but he made it. He survived the Fun Zone.

"Worst… class… ever…!" Relics panted as he laid on the ground catching his breath.

~X~X~X~X~

"He made it, and he even passed the surprise at the end huh?" The leopard growled to himself. In truth he was a little disappointed that the human didn't crash and burn but at least he did get punched a couple times. Still Relics did all right for a human.

"Lana you're up." Captain Fritz snapped.

The minx rose from her chair smiling confidently. This was the first time she had to do the Fun Zone but she was ready. She was going to overcome this obstacle and then ask Relics out in front of everyone. With as much confidence on her face she walked to the start.


	7. Blind Sighted

"Good job Snowflake, and just under twenty minutes. Now go sit down and try to get some sunlight for God's sake." Captain Fritz said to Relics when the human made it all the way back to where he started.

'_I get it, I'm pale.' _Relics thought as he blew past the leopard.

"Relics come sit here dude!" Bill said as he waved his arms around over his head like a child with sugar. Relics was about to roll his eyes and ignore him but he remembered why he was on Corneria. So with a somewhat positive outlook Relics went to join the occasionally hyperactive canine.

"Hey Bill, how's it going?" Relics asked as he collapsed in the open chair next to Bill. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the bobcat to his right moved his seat away from Relics a bit, not enough to be too conspicuous but enough to get out of accidental touching distance.

"Pretty good man." Bill chuckled. "How _you_ doing?"

Relics sighed. "Fine, just fine."

"Fine my feathered ass!" Falco snapped from Bill's other side. "The Wall of Bruising really tore you a new one Relics!"

"Yeah I guess it did." Relics said simply.

"Still you did great human, you got me ten bucks from this asshole!" Falco said and smacked Bill on the back of the head.

"Oh? And how's that?" Relics asked staring right into Bill's worried brown eyes. The pitbull tried to remain strong but Relics' cold grey eyes pierced any and all of his defenses.

"He bet that you wouldn't-" Falco began but Bill began to cough uncontrollably.

"Jacoza mi'et no zacha." Bill growled at Falco.

'_Okay, what the Hell was that?'_ Relics wondered as Bill and Falco started arguing in another Cornerian language. The human stared at them, apparently Bill was winning but Falco wouldn't back down. Unfortunately Relics didn't get to see who the winner was because of the lynx sitting behind him.

"Um, h-hey Relics?" The lynx stuttered causing Relics to turn around. The human blinked twice before he remembered her from first period.

"Oh hello, Miyu." Relics replied pleasantly. It was apparent from Miyu's shocked facial expression that she did not expect him to remember her name. All the same the lynx was going to keep her promise to Lana.

"Lana said that she thought you did really well and she was hoping you'd watch her as she ran through the obstacle course." Miyu said as she clenched Fox's hand very tightly.

'…_Huh? Why would Lana want me to watch her? Is she going to try to show me up or something? Nah, Lana doesn't seem like the type.'_

"Okay, well thank you for telling me Miss…?" Relics asked.

"Oh Miyu is fine but it's Seraph, Miyu Seraph. Oh crap there she goes!" Miyu said as her bone snapping clench on Fox's hand lessened much to the vulpine's relief. He didn't want to say it in front of the human but he was sure Miyu broke his hand. There was something about the human that was sort of intimidating even though it wasn't very muscular looking. Maybe it was his eyes that seemed they could pierce through anything.

'_Well that was pointless; anyways it's time to see what Lana is up to.'_ Relics thought as he turned around and started to watch Lana on the large television next to the Fun Zone. The minx was making excellent time and had almost reached the end of the rope swings within a minute. Unfortunately she slipped a little and had to readjust herself which was taking some time to get back into position. Yet strangely Relics could see she was not in the least bit frightened but instead she looked completely determined to finish the Fun Zone.

"Damn she can use her legs, that'll come in handy later, eh Relics?" Bill chuckled as he elbowed Relics in the ribs playfully but the big pitbull did not know his own strength.

"Yeah it will; she'll need that when she goes through the mud pits." Relics said feeling the bruises beginning to form on his ribs.

"No that's not what I mean." Bill laughed.

'_I know what you meant Bill, I just won't acknowledge it.'_ Relics thought to himself as Lana made it past the rope swings and moved on to the monkey bars. _'Good luck Lana.' _He found himself thinking.

Much to Relics' surprise Lana started to breeze through the monkey bars. She had no problems with them moving or lurching and when she reached the end in just under a minute when it took Relics twice as long to accomplish the same feat. The longer he watched Lana the more impressed and embarrassed he was, she had no difficulties with the mud pits and managed to jump across them all without even getting her shoes muddy.

'_My masculinity, pride, and man card are being stripped away from me in three… two… one… and there it goes.'_ Relics thought while Lana jumped over the last mud pit and moved on to the lasers.

"Shut up Bill you damn horn dog!" Falco snapped. "She's your friend for God's sake!"

"I know but you got to admit that what she is doing is hot! I mean look at her! The way she bends, the way she effortlessly moves her body into those erotic positions and her perfect feminine grace." Bill said making Relics blush. Bill might be an idiot and an obnoxious pervert but his words brought more red to Relics' cheeks. The way he described her was so poetic and interestingly erotic that he felt even more embarrassed to be watching her.

"Calm down Bill what would your girlfriend say?" Miyu asked.

"Uh Miyu I don't have one right now, so you're dumb." Bill snapped as he turned around and stuck his tongue out at Miyu.

"Oh that's harsh, the way you treat your left hand." Miyu retorted which made Relics start to crack up. He'd been trying not to laugh at anything today but Miyu broke his poker face and he couldn't hold it in, he just had to let it out.

"Come on Relics, it's not the funny." Bill grumbled as he sat in his chair with a hurt ego. Miyu got him good and he had no retort for her, to make it all worse the human was laughing.

"I'm… I'm sorry Bill!" Relics chuckled. "But she did get you good."

Miyu began to purr. "You know I might like him." The lynx whispered in Fox's ear.

"You only think that because he laughed at your joke." Fox chuckled and kissed Miyu on the cheek.

"I guess but he isn't as bad as I thought he would be, I mean he isn't a psychopath as far as I can tell like everybody says." Miyu whispered but she might as well have been whispering into Relics' ear because he heard every word and much to his own surprise he was a little saddened by what she said. He didn't want to be labeled a psychopath or crazy, he just didn't want people to push him around which is why he put up such a strong front. Maybe he did overdo it though.

'_Hmm, maybe I should rethink this badass appeal. If I can't fit in then I might as well go home now.'_ Relics thought to himself as he watched Lana on the big screen. She really was good and was showing him up every step of the way but she had probably done it before, at least he hoped so.

"Only the Wall of Bruising left." Bill sighed. "It was fun while it lasted but I'm afraid this is where she gets off."

"Maybe." Relics said as his subconscious crossed his fingers. In some ways Relics liked Lana, she was funny, kind, her eyes were so entrancing with their deep red shades and unlike everyone else on this planet he felt relatively serene around her.

The minx proceeded towards the wall with great caution and it seemed she was loosing some of her confidence. Still she wouldn't be beaten here, she had to prove herself here and show Relics what she could do even if it was pointless doing so. The second she touched the wall the boxing gloves shot out and it frightened the solid tan minx. It took a while for her to pluck up the courage again but she eventually started her painful trek across the wall.

"Hey Fox how much do you know about humans?" Miyu asked.

"Not much, why?" Fox responded and looked at the albino human.

"Well do you know what it means when their legs start jumping up and down like that?" Miyu asked and pointed out Relics' violently jumping leg of which he took no notice of.

"I don't know love, maybe it means he's nervous?" Fox suggested as he readjusted his grip on Miyu's hand.

"Aw that's so cute, they would make such a cute couple… well maybe, I don't know." Miyu giggled to herself.

"Miyu." Fox scolded playfully and nuzzled her a little. She smelt so good today and was exceptionally soft especially around the neck which he gave a quick inconspicuous nibble.

"Fox! Not here with Captain Fritz around." Miyu giggled but didn't detest his advances. If it were possible she would have found a place a little more private and let Fox go a little further then nibbling.

"Sorry Miyu but you're so pretty, soft and warm. It's hard to control myself by even just thinking about you." Fox murmured in Miyu's ear.

Miyu grasped Fox's hand tighter, not as tightly as she did when Relics talked to her though. "Are your parents still out of town?"

"Till next Tuesday." Fox said as a small smile crept onto his face.

"Tonight." Miyu said.

"Tonight." Fox echoed smugly.

"As for now let's watch Lana." Miyu said returning her attention to the minx.

"Tonight." Fox repeated and was off in his own world. If Miyu thought what they shared in the small cramped car was good, she will be pleasantly surprised what he can do with some elbow room.

Even with their quieted voices Relics could have heard every word they said if he was listening. He was totally fixated on Lana and her slow but perfect progress through the Bruising wall. She hadn't been hit yet because of her extreme caution but she was moving along very slowly and Relics was almost biting his nails.

'_Come on Lana you got this just go, come on! Wait? Why am I freaking out so much?'_ Relics wondered when he noticed his leg was practically hammering a hole into the ground. He quickly stopped his leg and relaxed a little but not much. For reasons that were amiss to him he was concerned about the minx he only just met a few hours ago.

"Damn she is getting far! Farther than you ever got Bill and you've done it, what? Thirty times?" Falco chuckled.

"Yeah that sounds about right; I _have_ done your mom thirty times." Bill said and looked to Relics expecting a rise but instead saw a transfixed and oblivious human. "Fucking damn it." Bill grumbled.

'_We aren't exactly friends so why do I care? Maybe it's because she's the only person on Corneria I've sort of connected with? She may be an alien but she's a good one.'_ Relics thought to himself. _'So with that in mind I guess it is okay to hope she makes it through all right and I guess I can feel a little worried about her since she is a good person- I mean alien… no, person.'_

From there on, Relics watched with the same intensity but didn't allow it to show in his body language anymore. Lana moved about the same speed Relics did but the difference between him and her was Lana didn't get once. As she made it to the other side Falco started cackling to himself.

"Somebody is getting their ass handed to them." Falco muttered loud enough for Relics to hear but he wasn't listening again. "Human? Huuuman?" Falco cooed but his cooing fell on deaf ears.

"He can't hear you right now Falco, he's probably balls deep in some fantasy Lana." Bill sighed. "Aren't you Relics?"

"Huh? What?" Relics asked when Bill finally said enough for him to respond.

"See? I told you so." Bill laughed.

"Told me? Told me what?" Relics asked.

"Relics." Lana said on the television and the human's icy grey eyes snapped back onto Lana.

"Did she just say my name?" Relics asked as he watched Lana ready herself for the surprise ending. She stretched her legs and breathed deeply making Relics blush.

"There he goes again, I knew it! I knew it would eat at him but I had no idea it would wolf him down so fast! He sure has it bad." Bill sighed.

"I am not balls deep in Lana, Bill!" Relics growled.

Bill blinked a few times awkwardly and then said. "Sorry Relics, I didn't mean anything by it."

'_Should I or shouldn't I? He did set me up perfectly and I should pull my head out of my ass at least a few inches… whatever.'_

"Well, I'm not there quite yet." Relics said with a smug smile on his face.

'_Oh fuck, backfire!'_ Relics thought when he saw Bill's and Falco's surprised faces. They didn't even blink; they just gave him blank judgmental stares. A bead of sweat crawled down the side of his neck as he felt the awkwardness and the pressure set in. _'Why did I go and open my stupid fat mouth and-'_

"WHAT!?" Bill and Falco shouted and started laughing hysterically.

"That has to be the funniest thing you've said all day!" Bill laughed and fell out of his chair. "Oh you," Bill said and pointed at Relics "you I like!"

'_Oh thank you! Thank you, God!'_ Relics thought as he breathed easy again when he realized they weren't laughing at him.

"Woo, that was a good one human." Falco said as he started to calm down.

"Yeah but in all seriousness that was just a joke." Relics said not wanting to give off the wrong impression or any wrong signals.

"Oh yeah man, it's all BS talk here." Bill said as he got up off the ground and back into his chair. "And besides she is _way_ too hot for you." Bill chuckled.

"In that case there is even less hope for you huh Bill?" Fox said and tapped Bill on the shoulder. Out of the corner of his green eyes he saw the human grin a little but its attention was back at the fully ready to run minx.

Lana had a look on her face that could almost spell 'get out of my way, trained killer coming through.' She crouched down like a runner and licked her little muzzle. Relics watched excitedly and his fingers crossed again. His heart was hammering in his ears just remembering how hard it was for him to do this. Relics' leg began to jump again as the seconds ticked on and on and it was almost as if Lana was deliberately allowing the suspense build until finally she bolted.

She moved so fast that the traps behind her weren't even within three floorboards of her. Lana was almost like a blur on the television and impressed everyone watching, especially the human. It was hard to believe but she was moving faster than he'd seen any human go. Relics was starting to think more and more of the minx, to be that fast she must have had to condition and train harder than most people ever could. When Lana finished she was almost ten floorboards ahead whereas Relics was just barely one ahead when he did it.

"Well what do you know? The ol' girl isn't a minx, she's a cheetah!" Bill exclaimed.

"You'd know that if you went to any of her track events and watched her run." Miyu sighed and let go of Fox's hand. Even though Miyu was far ahead of the trap Miyu was still a little worried for Lana.

"You know we might have to stop holding hands if you don't stop trying to break mine." Fox whined quietly so that Relics wouldn't hear.

"Oh you're a big baby." Miyu scolded playfully. Fox's response was a sad, hurt but all the while cute look and Miyu couldn't help but smile. "Aw, I'm sorry my little baby." Miyu cooed and pinched Fox's cheek. "I'll make it up to you." Miyu whispered into Fox's ear but before she pulled away she licked the inside of his ear making the vulpine shudder with ecstasy.

"Oh, you naughty lynx." Fox murmured as an eager smile crept across his face. What he wouldn't have given to have everybody magically teleported away and allowed them some privacy.

"All that and more awaits us tonight, Fox." Miyu whispered and rubbed Fox's thigh until she felt something begin to stir within his pants.

"Keep it PG kids," Captain Fritz growled and nearly scared Fox and Miyu out of their fur "or you're next in."

"Yes sir, sorry sir." Fox said and licked his lips and stared at the drill instructor like a cow does staring at an oncoming train.

"Alright then." The leopard growled.

"Holy crap." Relics whispered to himself as he breathed easily for the first time since Lana started the final obstacle. He looked at the ground and tried not to think of what could have happened.

"Relics." Lana said on the large television screen causing the human to look back up instantly. "Relics I really hope you are listening to this because it will be really awkward if you're not."

'_Oh dear God what is she going to do?'_ Relics thought as his heartbeat flared up like a jackhammer.

"Here she goes." Miyu sighed and wished the minx the very best of luck.

"Relics… I… I was wondering if you would like-" Lana said but the school bell drowned her out.

'_Would like what? WOULD LIKE WHAT!?' _

"Well I'll see you in a bit for your answer than." Lana said and exited the obstacle course with her time being half as long as Relics'

'_Crap, crap, crap! What did she ask me? Is it important? Does she want to be friends? Is that what she was asking?'_ Relics panicked in his mind and was sort of right. After all the stress he'd suffered today and with all the adrenaline coursing through his body, Relics wasn't thinking clearly at all (not that he does most of the time anyway). His mind was unable to even come to the idea she just asked him out on a date. _'Okay, well whatever the question was might as well say what will keep you out of trouble.'_

The pale, snowy haired, grey eyed human stood up and waited for the minx to catch up with him.

"Falco did you hear what she asked?" Bill asked the blue avian who was now adjusting his seat to get a better view of the show.

"No." Falco sort of lied. He didn't hear what she said but he was able to read lips. Relics was sure in for the shock of his life which was why he wanted a front row seat. The falcon folded his arms and his feathers ruffled a bit in a pleased manor.

"Do you think I should tell him?" Miyu whispered.

"Nah, let's just watch and see how it plays out." Fox whispered back.

"Why though?" Miyu mewed.

The vulpine shrugged. "Kicks?"

A few people began to leave but the people who were curious to know what Lana wanted from Relics stayed. Relics could hear them talking about it and he noticed a few people were getting out their phones.

"Crap my phone is out of memory; I used it all to record the human in the Fun Zone."

'_I fuckin knew it!'_

"Don't worry I'll send it to you from mine later."

"Alright and then we can post it on the internet! I bet ya we'll get a million hits in an hour flat!"

'_I'll give ya million hits to the face you ass! Don't you dare post this on- uh oh, here she comes! Act natural!'_

But that was easier thought than done; Lana was blushing up a storm and had a nervous look on her face that was contagious to the human. The minx's hands were fidgeting with themselves and her tail was prone to involuntary flicks and spasms. For a while they just looked at each other, neither one knew what to do or what was going to happen next.

'_She's got such beautiful eyes.'_ Relics found himself thinking.

"Say something!" Bill whispered as he and half the class watched eagerly to see what would happen. What did Lana want? Would Relics say yes? Were they wasting their time? Those questions were all buzzing around the onlookers' heads.

'_I know I have to say something but what? Yes, no, something else? You better hurry up man, her ears are starting to droop. Just say the first thing that comes to mind!'_

"Yes." Relics guessed and thought she had probably asked him to walk home with him or something. If he was in a proper mindset he would have understood why the minx made an overjoyed and relieved smile. Relics also would have understood why she suddenly wrapped her arms around him and nearly crushed the life out of him.

"This is so great! I'll pick you up at eight!" Lana said when she let go.

'_Pick me up at what now?'_

"Uh…" He droned on having no idea what was happening.

"I got to go though! I have to go get ready!" Lana said cheerfully before she ran off to go pick out the perfect outfit. Relics and everyone but Falco, Miyu, and Fox was clueless.

"Okay what just happened?" Bill asked when nobody said anything for five minutes.

"The human just agreed to go on a date with Lana." Falco sniggered smugly.

The pale human looked at Falco like he had a bomb in his hands. "No way."

"Yes way. What did you think she wanted, to walk you home?" Falco laughed.

"No way!" Relics repeated.

"You have got to be kidding me!" A black tomcat blurted out.

"No way!" Relics repeated.

"Yes way, now change the fucking record, Relics!" Falco scowled. "You agreed to go out on a date with Lana tonight."

Relics just stood there with a stupid look on his face. He never fathomed Lana would ask him out on a date. He only said yes because he was trying to be nice and thought that maybe she wanted something else from him. Why though? Why him? There were billions of Cornerians on Corneria why not anyone of them? Was it just because he was human or did she really see something in him? Relics never wanted this, he just wanted to make it through the year, go home and report back alive and in one piece. Now he had a girlfriend possibly. There was always the chance that she just wanted to go hang out and it wasn't so much of a date as a social meeting.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow Relics, tell me how it goes!" Bill sniggered and when he was outside chasing distance he began to laugh from the pit of his stomach.

'_I'm going to get you, Bill.'_

"She likes Zoness Lily Flowers." Miyu said as she and Fox walked off hand in hand.

'_Great, like I know what those are.'_

"Wrap it before you tap it, human." Falco whispered.

'_You're next.'_

The human stood there with a blank look on his face well after everyone had left. When he was sure he was alone he let out a loud.

"FUCK!"

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Hey peeps, sorry about the shortness I just wanted to get you junkies your fix and this chapter end allows me to jump ahead without confusion (I hope). Anyways I hope you enjoyed, as you've noticed he's pulling his head out of his ass (thanks for that one it made me lol by the way), I never was going to let him be so negative and critical the entire story and he will mellow out throughout (he still is an idiot though). **_


	8. The Ride Home

_**I do not own Star Fox, any bands, any products or anything that is owned by someone else that might be mentioned in this story, this chapter or any other chapters!**_

"There you are! I was starting to think you accidently got on a bus."

Relics looked up from the ground, his face was pensive and he was still reeling from the shock of what Lana just asked and what he agreed to. A bit of the pink in his face had faded but he was still glowing to speak. Even though Relics was within walking distance of his house the Cornerian government had given him his own SUV with his own chauffer. He wasn't allowed to drive the SUV though.

The school was all but deserted save the SUV and Relics was grateful for that. Odds were the word was all over the school, the world and maybe the rest of the Cornerian solar system that he had a date with Lana tonight. At least she wasn't a pig though, he found himself thinking. He didn't have anything against the swine whatsoever but the noises pigs made and their snouts were really awkward, what if he had to kiss it?

'_Wait why would I have to kiss a pig? It's not like I'm going to kiss Lana or anything! It's just going to be a quick social meeting and-'_

"You still in there Mister McCloud?"

"Oh hey, Jason." Relics said and stepped into the back of the black Cornerian SUV. Cornerian cars were like human cars except they weren't the sleek new age styles like back on Earth and her colonies, they were like old fashioned twentieth century models. They still ran like the newer cars only they were nostalgic.

"Hello to you too, Mister McCloud." Jason said as he shut the door behind Relics. The German Sheppard then got in the driver's seat (on the right) and he started the car. "So how was the first day?"

Relics looked at the brown canine in the rear view mirror. "Probably a lot worse than any first day of school you ever had."

"That bad?" Jason asked sympathetically.

"Well, some parts I guess." Relics said as he buckled himself in and grabbed on to the handlebars on the roof. He was absolutely terrified of driving on Corneria, the cars always sped, accidents were common and people being hit were even more common.

"Like? Come on Mister McCloud don't keep me in the dark!" The Sheppard said before he slammed on his brakes, nearly bashed the horn in, rolled down his window and screamed. "HEY DICKWEED WATCH WHERE YOU'RE DRIVING! I'LL FUCKING FIND YOU AND KILL YOUR FAMILY!" The canine shouted out the window but he casually pulled his head back in, rolled up the window and said "Anyways you were saying?"

'_God I hope I don't get on his bad side; he's even crazier than me!'_

"Well first and second period went all right but right as gym started it all went downhill." Relics reported and relaxed the painful grip on the handlebars.

"Yeah? What happened?"

"I beat up one of the toughest kids in school." Relics said before Jason started laughing. His laugh was very dog like and sounded almost like barking which was strange since most everyone else laughed normally. Then again Jason wasn't the normality of people.

"That's the bad part!? What were the good parts then? All the girls start hitting on you, giving you their numbers, and oh, let me guess, you got a date tonight?" Jason asked.

Relics laughed nervously and looked away from the rear view mirror. "Yeah, if only."

"Wait a minute!" Jason said as he slowed down at a stoplight. "That video I saw! Was that you? Was that real!?"

"Depends." Relics said and his grey eyes got all shifty.

'_Please don't let it be the one with me and Lana! Please don't let it be the one with me and Lana!'_

"That one where you- I mean _a_ human beat the ever loving crap out of some lupine. It might not have been you though, seeing as how there are a lot more humans on Corneria… well not really actually." Jason said trying to pretend he wasn't accusing Relics.

Relics nodded his head. "Yeah that was me-"

"DAMN DUDE! You knocked him the fuck out!" Jason exclaimed.

'_Is it just me or are all canines like this?'_ Relics thought as Jason reminded him of Bill. Jason was alright; a little groggy in the mornings but once they stopped for some coffee stuff he was up, awake and peppy. One thing Relics had against Jason was when Jason set the car to hover and took Relics on a ride that was so terrifying it would have made his hair go white if it already hadn't. Still Jason was an okay guy.

"Why did you do it though? I mean the General won't be too pleased unless you got a good excuse."

"Hey, he attacked me! I was good and kept the damage to a minimal." Relics retorted.

"Well just make sure you tell the General and he'll understand." Jason said before he rolled down his window and flipped off whoever was behind them causing the person or people behind them to lay down on their horn.

"Yeah I saw all the videos of you on the internet!" Jason said and tried to ignore the rude driver still laying on his horn for no reason.

'_Super duper!'_ Relics thought sarcastically.

"Really? What happened in them?" Relics asked with just and edge of nervousness.

The German Sheppard's muzzle curled up into a slight grin and his golden brown eyes found Relics' grey worried eyes in the rear view mirror. Relics had come to realize that when a Cornerian canine smiles it was most likely not good. Half the time Bill smiled it wound up biting (or pinching) Relics in the ass somehow.

"Let me just say that if I had a girl as hot- well I can't say hot I could get in trouble since she isn't eighteen… well if I had a girl like the minx that was all over you today, I'd be the happiest son of a bitch on Corneria!" Jason laughed.

Relics' jaw fell a little as he took this information in. If Jason had seen it then the whole Cornerian race could have seen it and that included the media. Ever since he'd touched down on Corneria there was a journalist, reporter, paparazzi or just some random guy with a camera always asking questions if he left the house. Relics was willing to bet anything that all of the news stations would do a little story tonight about him and Lana. This would only add the never ending whirlwind of questions that random people asked him on a day to day basis. It isn't easy being popular or an alien freak show.

'_Fuck my life. Fuck my life. Fuck my life. Fuck my life.…'_ Relics thought for about another two minutes as he banged his head against the back of the passenger seat. _'Fuck me. Fuck- wait a minute!'_

"Hey Jason?" Relics asked suddenly as Jason swerved to avoid pedestrians crossing the street.

"What's up Mister McCloud?" Jason asked.

"Does the whole Cornerian race have access to the internet?" Relics asked.

Jason shrugged. "No, just certain people."

'_Oh thank you Jesus!'_ Relics sighed in his head and felt a little better.

"Really like who?" Relics asked, further pressing the issue to make absolute sure his solace was not a façade. He leaned in on the edge of his seat expectantly for Jason's reply.

"Certain people." Jason echoed and stopped at a red light thankfully.

'_Oh thank you Buddha!'_ Relics thought and would go through the entire list of entities and otherwise for as long as he felt relieved.

"Like?" Relics further pressed but immediately wished he didn't seconds after.

"People who pay their internet bill so about… most anyone. Why?" Jason asked and Relics fell back in his seat utterly dejected.

Then Jason got that look in his eyes that made Relics lock his door. "Excuse me."

Jason opened his car door and slammed it shut.

"Uh Jason the light turned blue!" Relics pointed out but Jason was deaf to him in his rage.

"GET OUT OF THE CAR! GET OUT OF THE FUCKIN CAR! COME ON OUT YOU RAT BASTARD! I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING LUNGS OUT!"

Relics laid back in his chair and sighed.

'_Can't we ever just drive somewhere without starting a traffic jam?'_ Relics thought as everyone behind him and the car started honking while Jason tried to rip out the rude monkey from his car. Realizing he was going to be there for about another hour Relics decided to pull out the one thing that he was allowed to bring from Earth that was electronic. He grabbed his MP-Sixty Four player and turned down the volume to the point that was loud for him but was quiet for anyone else.

'_God I hate it here…'_ Relics thought and closed his eyes.

~X~X~X~X~

"I honestly still _can not_ believe you asked that human out on a date!" Tiffany, a white and rather tall rabbit exclaimed as she, Lana, Fara and Miyu walked down the rather deserted suburban street. Many of the houses they passed had gardens that their owners watched over like an eagle does its chicks. Pluck one flower for a special someone and get ready for the hose. Apart from the gardens there were cars in some of the parking lots of the homes and a few were just pulling in from a day's work.

"Well there weren't any other humans to ask out so of course it had to be _that_ human Tiff." Lana replied.

"But why though?" Tiffany asked as they rounded a corner and Fara's house came into view. Fara hadn't said a word since she found out about what Lana had done and she was still coming to terms with it.

"I honestly don't know," Lana lied; she knew why she just didn't want to tell anyone else.

"Just remember Lana, if he hurts you, touches you or says anything wrong, Fox and I are more than willing to take _care_ of him." Miyu said playfully but under her banter she was dead serious. She didn't have an opinion of the human that was bad but the lynx was extremely protective of her friends and nobody, not even a human was allowed to hurt them without answering to her.

"Thanks Miyu, but I don't think he would, he's really sweet and he doesn't seem the crazy type-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Tiffany exclaimed. "He's a human! Of course he's crazy! The fact that he even came here is beyond crazy, he's a friggen psychopath!"

"Tiff." Lana groaned.

"Don't Tiff me, Lana!" Tiffany snapped. "I am _serious_! You have got to be careful! No one has even told us why he is here in the first place!"

"To help bridge the gap between our species by living amongst us and learning about our society, ways and cultures, duh!" Miyu snapped. The lynx's blood was boiling and she was wasting precious Fox and her time walking with them. It wasn't that she didn't want to hang out with them; she just didn't want to be a part of this stupid and pointless conversation. She had said her say and she had nothing else to say.

From there on the four were silent until they got to Fara's house.

"Well I'll see you all tomorrow… Lana, be sure to call me first when the date's over and tell me everything unless he hurts you. In that case call Miyu and I'll know from the outraged scream that will most likely shatter all the glass within a block's radius." Fara giggled.

"I am not that loud!" Miyu hissed but knew Fara was just being cute. Miyu didn't like cute that much (unless it was Fox).

"I'll be safe don't worry, see you tomorrow Fara." Lana said and the fennec fox walked up to her porch and went inside her home. Then things were quiet again and they almost reached Tiffany's house before the silence was broken again.

"Look Lana, I didn't say those things to be mean I'm just really, _really_ worried about you. Flirting with him at lunch was fun and we had a laugh but that was just innocent teasing! It didn't have to mean anything! You could have just brushed him off-"

"That wouldn't have been right Tiff, he's all alone here and the last thing he needs is people playing around with him and his feelings." Lana replied curtly.

"I guess." Tiffany said as they reached her house. "But… well… you said yourself that just before we decided to meet him that if it wasn't for us being there you would never have dreamed of talking to him. Now you're going to be all by yourself with him!"

"I already was once, just before sixth period. He's nice, sweet, he's courteous and I like talking with him." Lana said and Tiff closed her eyes.

"Alright, just be careful, _please_. And when the date is over call me before you do anything else and tell me what happened."

"I will Tiff." Lana sighed and hugged her friend. As nice as it was having such protective friends it could get annoying. She'd made a mistake and she learned from that mistake with Wolf and she wouldn't make it again. If Relics showed the slightest sign he was in any way like Wolf she'd leave and never look back. She'd never allow herself to find herself in a relationship like that again.

"See you at the track meeting tomorrow." Tiffany said and closed the front door behind her.

Miyu and Lana looked at each other and without a word they started walking towards Fox's house which was a few blocks away but fairly close to Lana's house. The minx and the lynx didn't speak to each other for a while, they were both thinking too deeply. Eventually Lana thought of what she wanted to ask her.

"So what do you think about all this?"

"Good luck, have fun and call me if something goes wrong." Miyu replied as they crossed the street. She was watching for cars because the suburbs were a place where idiots went to do fifty over the speed limit.

"No really, do you think it's wrong for me to do this?" Lana asked.

"Well… he is an alien but he's not some freaky weird kind of alien like you'd see in the movies that wants to harvest our brains and organs…" Miyu sighed as Lana's house came into view. Lana had a big house, not a mansion sized house but it was the biggest one on the block for sure. Sadly she was the only one living in it at the moment, what with her parents on Zoness keeping their multimillion dollar business running.

"Relics is really nice-"

"I know you told me after sixth period everything you two did together." Miyu groaned. "In every detail I might add."

"So do you think it's wrong? A Cornerian dating a human?" Lana asked.

"No not really, I really don't care to be honest. To me it's no different from a falcon dating a pig." Miyu laughed.

"Okay, as long as you approve." Lana said as they reached her house's gate. "Well have fun with Fox-"

"Did she tell you!?" Miyu exclaimed and Lana's only response was a small suppressed giggle and a noticeable pink blush. "God damn it I am going to _KILL _that vixen!"

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone." Lana winked with a sly grin. "Well I'll talk to you as soon as the date's over; I've got to get ready."

~X~X~X~X~

"Sorry about earlier, Mr. McCloud." Jason apologized for the umpteenth time. His lip was fat from the fight he just had but that was nothing compared to what he did the other guy. Relics didn't see the fight but the vivid description Jason gave him was just as good as witnessing it. All in all, it was a bloodbath.

"Its fine Jason, I'm in no hurry to get back." Relics sighed.

"I wouldn't have done it but he challenged me! He challenged me! Did you hear how long he had been laying on his horn?" Jason asked.

"Yes I heard it." Relics said and began to strum his fingers on his left knee. "It's fine, alright?"

Jason smiled and laughed nervously. "You won't… you won't tell the General about this will you?"

Relics smiled warmly at Jason. "Of course not, if you ask me, that prick got what he deserved."

Jason let out a loud and long sigh of relief. "Woo! For a second there I thought you were going to possibly snitch on me!"

"Nah I wouldn't do that." Relics said and looked out the tinted window. Now that Jason wasn't speeding, Relics was able to see what was going on outside. Some kits and pups were playing around outside with little plastic toy guns. Relics didn't get to watch them for very long but apparently one of the wolf pups was going Rambo on everyone else and was hosing them all down with imaginary lasers.

Aside from the kids there wasn't too much to look at aside from the gardens, the cars and the occasional sunbather hoping to catch the last few rays of sun before autumn took its footholds. Cornerians were strange creatures when it came to sunbathing. They didn't get darker skin since their fur covered it all but instead their fur got brighter, shinier, and healthier looking. Relics longed to not look like a goon who hadn't seen sunlight in years, yet no matter how hard he tried, no matter how long he stayed out in the sun shirtless and in shorts, he never got any color or burned for that matter. It had been that way since the day of his alterations.

"So you got any plans tonight?" Jason asked suddenly causing Relics to snap out of his self consciousness. "Cause my wife is dying to meet you and we're having stake tonight." Jason said and then laughed "Knowing my wife she will make too many and well… yeah. If you want to…." He said trailing off nervously in fear of rejection.

"Thanks Jason but I have a date- oh… crap." Relics said when he realized what he said. Jason then made a noise Relics had never heard before. It was a strange noise like a giggle mixed with a hiccup and a snort.

"A date?" Jason asked with that sneaky smug grin on his muzzle. "With who? With that minx that you were walkin' with earlier?"

"No it's not like that!" Relics said quickly, too quickly in fact.

"Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!" Jason laughed as he rounded the street corner deeper into the suburban area and Relics' mandated house came into sight. The house was a nice tan color with a small garden which he didn't tend to (there were gardeners for that and he had no idea how to treat Cornerian plants), a two car sized driveway leading to a single car garage. The house's décor however was nothing like Relics was used to. Back in the Rheine sector all the homes were newer models and they were sleeker with less of a homey feel.

'_Oh God please don't.'_ Relics groaned in his head as Jason kept laughing all the way to the driveway. As he pulled in he smirked to himself.

"Well be sure to bring her flowers and whatever you do ask her before you kiss her!" Jason chortled.

"I'm not going to kiss her!" Relics protested as he began to turn pink and then red.

"Okay sir." Jason said as the human furiously got out of the car. "So what time do you want me back? Do you know where she lives?"

Relics quickly calmed down to try and save face. "Actually she said she was going to pick me up-" Relics said and immediately Jason's face went from giddy and excited to sour and full of pain.

"Ooh, ooh." Jason groaned as he shook his head. "That will not do, not at all."

"What? What's wrong?" Relics asked.

"Well for one the _man_ is supposed to pick up the _woman_." Jason replied as he stuck his head out the window. "Does she even know where you live?"

Relics bit his lips. "No… no she doesn't now that I think about it. The media has been censoring my address when they film me around the house. Then again the neighbors could have leaked it out and she could have figured it out."

"Ah but there's the problem. What if she didn't?"

"Then I could call her-"

"You can call her?" Jason interrupted.

"Yeah I have her number." Relics said as Jason scrambled to get out of the SUV. Relics pulled out the phone number in his pocket and asked why.

"So we can fix you little mistake and have you pick her up." Jason replied excitedly.

'_I wonder if this guy is related to Bill.'_ Relics wondered as he started dialing the number (from the card) on his wrist com. When it started to ring Relics asked.

"And you are sure about this?"

"Absolutely!" Jason replied while the call went through.

Relics began to feel nervous as well as awkward. He was taking the romantic advice of a person whom he barely knew and had a tendency to be a little crazy on the road. Still it could be worse; he could have been asking advice from Bill.

"It's ringing." Relics reported as Jason watched excitedly. After a few rings there was a response.

"Hello?" Lana asked on the other line wondering just who was calling her.

"Hello, Lana?" Relics asked for confirmation.

"Speaking." Lana replied.

"Ask her; ask her if she's busy." Jason whispered.

Relics rolled his eyes, he didn't need a wingman. "Hey Lana it's me, Relics. Are you busy at the moment?"

"Oh hey, Relics!" Lana said excitedly when she realized who it was. "I didn't know it was you, and no I'm not busy!"

"Ask her if she wouldn't mind if you picked her up tonight." Jason whispered even quieter then before making Relics strain to hear.

"Um Lana I was wondering if it was alright with you if I might pick _you _up for our social- I mean date." Relics said when he saw Jason shake his head angrily and started snarling.

"I don't see why not, I just thought that you wouldn't have been able to since you aren't allowed to drive. But then you do have a chauffeur." Lana said warmly.

'_How does she know that?'_

"I live on Cedar avenue and four-hundredth street, number nine, one, oh, six, seven, six." Lana finished.

Relics looked up hoping Jason had a pen and paper ready. Instead he had a pen and paw at the ready and was already scribbling down the address.

"Alright. Thank you Lana, I'll be there at eight." Relics said.

"Kay, I can hardly wait!"

"Ask her if she's got like a hot older sister who's eighteen." Jason whispered.

"No!" Relics snapped.

"JUST DO IT!" Jason yelled causing several neighbors who hadn't noticed them before take notice.

"Relics? Who was that?" Lana asked.

"Um no one just some guy who was dropped on his head one too many times as a child." Relics replied as he gave Jason a venomous glare. Jason just gave him an innocent look and shrugged.

Lana giggled and said. "Oh I see. Well I'll see you at eight! Bye."

"Ask her-"

"She hung up!" Relics snapped.

"Damn."

~X~X~X~X~

Lana put the phone down and her good mood disappeared. She was stressed out of her mind and she felt like taking a swing at anything in her way. Normally she wasn't this fiery, angry or stressed but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many times she tried she could not find the right outfit. She had to look perfect for Relics tonight and she would accept nothing less than perfect.

"This one?" Lana wondered as she held up a short skirt and T-shirt. The minx shook her head. "No what am I thinking? I don't want to portray myself as a slut- oh wait! Maybe I already did! Oh God!"

The minx stopped herself. She wasn't making even the remotest bit of sense and she was on the verge of a meltdown. She sat on the one part of her bed which hadn't been flooded by clothes and sighed deeply.

"Oh, why can't I just be a guy? They never worry about being well dressed." Lana moaned and fell back onto her bed with a muffled thump.

~X~X~X~X~

"Oh, why can't I just be a normal guy? They never worry about being well dressed!" Relics groaned and fell back onto his bed. The snowy haired human was back in his home now, Jason had gone home to tell his wife he was going to be a little late to dinner and then he'd be back with a Zoness Lily flower (whatever the Hell that was).

Since Jason had left, Relics was running ragged on how he should dress, casual or formal. He had several tuxedos lined out and several other outfits that were casual (all of which the Cornerian government had given him). His main dilemma was that if he went in a T-shirt and jeans while she went in a dress, he'd look like an ass. Lana would probably understand though, she was a decent enough person as far as Relics could see; she also had a great personality.

"Oh screw, it I'll go in one of these… _tuxedoes_." Relics growled to himself and hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself in front of Lana.


	9. Preperations

Relics combed his snowy hair for the sixty fourth time. No matter what it looked like, no matter how nice it was, it still wasn't good enough. He had to look better than he did for school, he had to look better than he did arriving on Corneria and he most certainly had to look better than he did on the news with his shirt caught in the door. So far Lana was the only more than half bearable person he had met. He liked everyone else (the ones that didn't try to gut him because he talked to their ex-girlfriends that is) but if he had to be locked in a room with no entertainment and with somebody else present, he'd proffer it to be Lana. She was nice in all aspects of the word; she was a nice person, nice to the senses and as Jason put it, a nice piece of-

"Oh thank God!" Relics sighed with relief and ran to the door to answer it. He passed through the dining room and the living room to reach the entry way with a very heavy door at the entrance. The second Relics opened the door Jason jumped right in, carrying a large bouquet of Zoness Lily Flowers. The flowers smelled heavenly and exactly like Lana.

"Sorry it took so long Mr. McCloud, traffic was a nightmare." The German Sheppard panted.

"I bet it was." Relics said and looked at Jason's new bruise on his face. "Did you run into any other complications?"

"No… oh crap! You got any band aids… well look at you!" Jason said forgetting the cut he found on his hand when he saw Relics dressed in the tuxedo he had chosen. "Not bad, even for a human- not that there is anything wrong with humans or being one!" Jason added quickly.

"Relax Jason; I'm not going to take offense. I'm only human after all." Relics said.

'_And you ain't nothing' but a hound dog.'_

"Okay. Sorry, I just didn't want to offend you or-"

"So how do I look?" Relics asked interrupting Jason so he'd drop the conversation of him being a human.

Jason nodded and looked him over. "It fits you well, no wrinkles in it, no stains, you took a shower," Jason said sniffing him making Relics shiver, "something wrong?"

Relics shook his head. "No I'm… I'm just not used to being sniffed like that. We don't sniff each other where I'm from."

'_Especially each other's butts, so don't get any damn ideas.' _Relics thought to himself while thinking of a normal canine.

"Oh, sorry sir." Jason said taking a step back. "But um… yeah overall you look good; at least _I_ think you do. I bet she will too, Hell, she probably thinks you're hot already when she pinched your ass."

"Oh God you saw that!?" Relics nearly exclaimed.

"Who didn't see that?" Jason chuckled. "Oh boy is she crazy! I bet she's even crazier in the sack. I've heard stories about how wild minx's are and they'll try damn near anything. This one guy managed to get two minxes at once and he had a heart attack and died as he… never mind." Jason said and didn't say anything more on account that Relics was cringing. "So are you all ready?"

Relics didn't answer right away. Jason had just overloaded his mind with too much info and he had to wade through it before he could talk. "Yeah I think so-"

"Where are you taking her?" Jason asked.

'_The Winchester and then the back alley for some good surprise buttse- wait what? …Sometimes I weird out even myself…'_

"I don't-"

"YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!?" Jason shouted.

"HOW CAN I KNOW? I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE TWO WEEKS AND I CAN'T LEAVE THE FUCKING HOUSE WITHOUT GETTING HOUNDED, GAWKED AT, OR QUESTIONED!" Relics shouted back out of frustration making Jason flinch.

"Sorry Mister McCloud I didn't mean to-"

"No, no it's fine." Relics said rubbing his temples. "I don't know where I can take her but if you have _any _suggest-"

"The Winchester." Jason said firmly.

'… _Great another telepathic Cornerian.'_

"The Winchester, what's that?" Relics asked wondering if he should start wearing a tinfoil helmet to block people's minds from raping his.

Jason smiled and motioned for Relics to follow him. "The Winchester," Jason said fondly as he and Relics sat down on the loveseat couch in front of the gargantuan sized three-D television "is where my beautiful wife Chloe and I first met. It was in the summer,-"

'_Oh great, a life story.'_

"-I remember it like it was only yesterday! Her hair was so long then, I could have ran my paws through it for hours, her fur was so shiny and sleek, her eyes sparkled in the candlelight and her gorgeous panther face drew all eyes to her. I was just a private at the time who just graduated from Spec Ops Training Academy so naturally I was young, brash, and stupid which is the whole reason we met. One look at her and I thought, I'm going to get her back to my place and fuck the Hell out of her doggie style!"

'_Too much info… AGAIN!' _

"I ordered her and myself a pretty heavy drink and walked towards her, she was sitting with her back was to me so she didn't see me coming and since I was so focused in on her hot body, I didn't see the food trolley coming." Jason said and then his tone went very toneless as he recanted the bad memory. "I tripped, the glass went flying and the entire drink went right onto her bare back."

'_Smooth.'_

Jason shook his head and sighed. "I almost didn't get up; I thought that if I lay there long enough I'd up and leave my body. That was then I heard her laugh. It was that laugh that made me see the error of my ways, sure she's a hot piece of ass but she's more than that."

Relics blinked a few times before saying. "And?"

Jason smiled, "Seven months later we got married. Not much to say after that, we tried to have kids but it's… taking some time."

"Kids!? How can you have kids you're different species of Cornerian!" Relics said forgetting that Lana was a minx which is a vulpine and a feline mixed.

"Well in some rare instances, about one in every thousand, different species can have hybrid children. We've been trying; oh let me tell you we _have_ been trying." Jason said with a smug chuckle in his voice.

'_Once again too much info.' _Relics thought distastefully.

"You're not going to be the one who teaches your children how to drive are you?" Relics asked suddenly.

"Wha- what's wrong with my driving?" Jason asked.

"Well, apart from cutting people off, nearly running pedestrians over, giving people the finger and starting street fights, nothing." Relics said innocently.

Jason squinted at Relics. "Touché Mr. McCloud. Touché."

"So what now?" Relics asked.

Jason looked at his watch. "Well, we have about four hours until seven and we should leave then… I don't know what do you want to do?"

'_Close my eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream.'_

"I got nothing to do." Relics shrugged.

For a while there was a pause in communication. The human sat silently but Jason was fidgeting and would open his muzzle and close it again as if he were about to ask or say something but lacked the nerve to ask it. There was a point that Jason's well groomed tail wagged on its own accord and then stopped all together. Finally, after whatever wall Jason had to scale over in his mind to find the courage to speak up, he said.

"Well… Mister McCloud I uh… I don't really know that much about you or humans for that matter-"

"You want me to tell you a little something about myself?" Relics interrupted.

"If it isn't a bother."

Relics made a half a smile and nodded slightly. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Well everything really, Mister McCloud." Jason said eagerly.

'_You and everyone else on Corneria.'_

"Okay. Well by your standards I am seventeen years old where on my planet I am sixteen. I'm not a straight "A" student but I get by. I like to exercise, read, and practice with firearms. As you can see I'm not all that interesting." Relics finished with a bit of self served humor.

"What else do you do for fun?" Jason asked.

"Well I used to be able to drink as much as I wanted, that passed the time." Relics laughed. "Other than that I used to play video games but kind of grew out of it, I watch television, movies, go camping, play Frisbee, and sometimes I'd go on a date with my girlfriend, or should I say ex?" Relics finished with a grim tone.

"Ah, did she rip your guts out and leave you bleeding? Bitch." Jason added as he'd been there before.

"No, after your lot attacked I haven't seen her in person since. I spoke with her once but she said she and her family were moving to Earth." Relics snapped.

"Oh." Jason said and couldn't look the human in the eye because of the fire leaping from the cold grey orbs. As Relics glared longer at the canine his anger disintegrated rapidly. He told himself to cut the Cornerians some slack and try to think less negatively about them. It was easier said than done as the pain of losing his father to them was only just starting to dull over a few weeks before he came here. Regardless, he had to let his hate go, not because he really wanted to, but out of necessity if he wished to survive.

'_I know it was his kind that did it but… he and most all of his kind had nothing to do with it, and he was only trying to put my ex down to bring me up.'_

"Hey Jason, don't worry about it man. I know what you were doing, it's fine." Relics said softly as the ice returned to his eyes, subduing the fire inside

"I'm sorry Mister McCloud." 

'_Should I or shouldn't I? It would probably break the ice a little… oh Hell with it.'_

"You know what Jason? Why don't you just call me Relics? You don't have to call me mister anything."

"Oh." Jason said, who was genuinely shocked by what Relics just said. "Okay Mist- I mean Relics."

Again the awkward silence fell on the loveseat couch but this one was better then the others. After a few minutes though, the fuzzy feelings got to Relics.

"Alright, enough of this touchy, felly, fuzzy crap. What should we do now?"

"I still don't have an idea." Jason replied humorously.

Relics sighed and started strumming his fingers on the arm rest of the two seated couch. "Oh wait! Why don't you take me to meet your wife?"

"Yeah…" Jason said nervously. "She's a little… disappointed I won't be home for dinner tonight so maybe not tonight."

"Jason if I'm getting you in trouble I can ask Pepper for another driver for the night."

"No it's fine, she says she understands but she did ask me to make a date with you when you'd be free." Jason said scratching behind his ears.

'_Let's see I got Monday through Sunday free next week… I think I can work him in somewhere.'_

"How about Friday?"

"Tomorrow?" Jason asked but nearly exclaimed.

"Is that a problem? Saturday then?"

"No, no, Friday is good for me… only Chloe's sister Aeris is coming for a visit tomorrow with her boyfriend Leo. But you know what? Why not? Tomorrow it is then!"

"Great." Relics said with a genuine smile. One of the first he had given to a Cornerian other than Lana. "You know you're still bleeding right?"

"…Shit."

~X~X~X~X~

"Thank you, _so_ much Fara."

"Yeah, yeah." Fara grunted. "Not like I had anything else to do."

The chestnut vixen was sitting down on a large queen sized bed watching the minx change right in front of her. Since Lana had no sense in fashion or style she needed Fara there to make sure she didn't go as a drag queen on her date with the human. Not like it mattered anyway, he probably had as much if not less sense in fashion then Lana.

As the vixen watched the minx she didn't feel uncomfortable even though the minx was almost stark naked. A lacy bra and skimpy panties kept the minx from being completely naked. They had been friends for a few years now and this wasn't the first time Lana had been so exposed before, in fact she had been completely naked in front of her before on a few occasions.

"How about this one?" Lana asked holding up a blue dress to her body. Fara looked her over and then the dress over. Once she was done Lana could tell she was not amused. "Okay," Lana said throwing the dress onto a large pile of dresses next to Fara on the bed "how about this one?"

"Are you kidding me? What are you, a dominatrix? Do your parents even know that you have that dress?"

"No, not really." Lana said burning red as she put the black, lacy, dress that would hug all her curves, show her midriff, cleavage, and the side of her right leg all at once under the last dress just in case, God forbid, someone other than Fara sees it.

"Well they will if they watch TV and you go in that dress tonight." Fara scolded.

"What do you mean?" Lana asked.

Fara gave herself a face palm. "Lana, Lana, Lana. Have you ever seen a Cornerian and a human couple before?"

Lana's hands were wrestling with themselves unbeknownst to her as she tried to figure out what Fara was getting at. "No, no I haven't."

"Exactly!" Fara exclaimed. "You better take a laxative now because the paparazzi are going to shove cameras and questions so far down your throat they'll come out the back of you and bite you in the ass! Where are you going, have you kissed yet, when did you two meet, what can you tell the viewers about interspecies relationships, are there plans for marriage?"

"So typical _you _questions huh?" Lana asked cocking an eyebrow at her friend.

"Hey! I am not that nosy-"

"After their second date you asked Miyu how big Fox's di-"

"All right maybe I can be a little nosy at times." Fara interrupted.

"At times!?" Lana exclaimed. "After the third date you asked Miyu if they did it yet!"

Fara frowned and flared her ears a bit. "Do you want my help or not Lana?"

"Oh yes I-'

"Then respect my authority and put this dress on." Fara growled as she threw a red dress at the nervous lynx.

"This one? Are you sure? What if he doesn't like it?" Fara asked.

"Well then he won't like anything else." Fara snapped. "Now put it on or am I going to have to force you down and put it on you?"

"No I'll do it; you'd enjoy it too much." Lana said quickly as she started putting the dress on.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fara asked.

"Katt Monroe." Lana said smugly.

"One time! We only did it once! And besides, we were totally wasted AND, we only made out!" Fara protested.

"But you loved every carpet eating moment of it." Lana sneered but that was the wrong move. She pushed Fara to the edge and now she'd pay. Without warning Fara attacked and tackled the minx to the ground. There was a loud ripping noise followed by a loud hiss. Lana didn't waste any time retaliating and unlike most cat fights the minx and the vixen didn't slap, pull hair or scratch, they hit, kicked, and punched each other as hard as they could and as hard as boys would. This was… common. Lana and Fara often fought but it never led to bad blood. It was a primal thing that dated back to the beginning of the Cornerian race, like pack animals play fighting.

After a quick fifteen minute scrap Lana laid on top of Fara panting, sweating, victorious, and the dominant one. Her sides hurt from all the body his Fara made and her clothes were ripped revealing her once concealed breasts. The shades were drawn so no one could see so Lana didn't mind. Fara wasn't in any better circumstances. She too was exhausted, her body hurt and her hair was a mess. If someone were to walk in on them now they wouldn't have thought they had been fighting in the slightest.

"Okay… Lana… you… win." Fara said between long intervals of panting.

Lana got off the tired vixen and helped her up. Now that that was out of the way, Lana decided to at least put a shirt on. She wasn't cold, the room was quite warm and after all the wrestling and fighting her rushing blood kept her more than warm. Once she put on a nice clean T-shirt she looked at her ruined dress.

"Damn it Fara!" Lana whined as she glared at the ripped arm. The dress's long sleeve was now hanging by a thread at the elbow and would have been perfect to wear for her date.

"Wha- oh… he-he, sorry." Fara said nervously.

"Sorry, that's all you ever are- no don't give me that look! The little blue green puppy eyes won't work on me Fara!" Lana snapped when she saw the innocent look Fara was giving her. "Oh not the ears! The ears!" Lana moaned as Fara's large fennec ears drooped. Lana looked away and smiled. "I can't stay mad at you, even though I should have killed you a long time ago."

"Great!" Fara said and hugged Lana. "Look, don't worry about this, we can fix it."

"How!? If you haven't seen already, there's only a single thread holding it on!" Lana hissed.

"I don't know… well maybe we could turn it into a sleeveless dress?" Fara suggested.

"But-"

"And maybe cut it here so it shows a little bit of this." Fara said trailing a finger down where she intended to cut away at the dress on Lana's chest.

"Cut that much and all you'll see is that." Lana replied curtly. "I might like him but not that much. Not enough to make myself look like a whore in front of all of Corneria."

"Too late." Fara murmured to herself but was heard.

"What do you mean by that? Am I going to have to kick your ass again?" Lana hissed playfully.

"I mean when you pinched his ass they got it on camera-"

"They got that on camera!?" Lana gasped, her eyes wide, tail bushy, and ears perked. "Damn it! Why do I let them persuade me to do such moronic things?"

"Who?" Fara asked.

"Tiffany and her friends! I don't know how but they got it in my head that we should tease him a little." Lana spat at herself more than Fara. "Why do I cave in so easily?"

Fara shrugged. "Because you're a slave to peer pressure?"

"I guess." Lana sighed and started to ponder a very bad flaw she had.

"Okay, come on minx girl. We've got work to do to make you of all people look classy. What do you want to do to this dress?" Fara asked after a long silence.

~X~X~X~X~

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, so I've redone this chapter and for any repeat readers who are wondering, where is the soft core sex scene with Fox and Miyu at the end? Well, I never really like that scene and got to thinking that technically Fox and Miyu are underage so… yeah, not gonna get into how bad that is. Plus when I originally wrote it, it was more of a way of meeting a quota of chapter length and I just got done writing Krystal's Honeymoon. **_


	10. The Date pt 1

"Okay, you ready?" Jason asked.

"Let me think… no! I'm not! What if I smell bad? What if I close her tail in a door? What if I spill my drink all over her?" Relics asked, completely panicking.

Jason clamped his hands on Relics' shoulders. "Relics, it's going to be fine. Just be cool, try not to think about what can go wrong, and for God's sake don't _do _anything wrong. Now come on, get in the car."

"Yeah… alight." Relics groaned. As much as he was looking forward to the date he was also dreading it. He did not want to make an idiot of himself in front of the one person that was more than half decent and above all, he did not want to fall prey to the hoards of reporters, paparazzi or curious people. He already knew from the news that all of Corneria was talking about him and Lana. Some were for it, some were against it, some didn't care, and others thought down on Lana,_ really_ down. They said she was just an attention seeking whore who was only going out with him for the attention. That might be the case but Relics doubted it. Who in their right mind would want that kind and that much attention? He certainly didn't, but he couldn't take a walk without his every move being filmed and streamed live on every news channel.

"Alright, ready to go?" Jason asked when they were both in the car.

"Yeah… you sure I don't look too formal?" Relics asked. _'I seriously feel like I'm going to either shoot her in the face like some stupidly dressed Hitman or I'm going to tell her she's won the lottery.'_

"Trust me; I'm sure she's dressed twice as good as you are now." Jason replied patiently.

"Well in that case maybe I should go back and-" Relics said, his hand reaching for the car doorknob but the second he touched it the car doors locked and wouldn't open no matter how much he struggled.

"No." Jason said and turned the car on.

"But-" Relics said trying to wedge the door open.

"No." Jason repeated.

"Maybe-" Relics said clawing at the window button but to no avail.

"No."

"Please?" Relics said readying himself to punch the tinted window but then remembered the window was bulletproof.

"No." Jason repeated again, still with a suave tone like Relics wasn't pressing his last nerve. "You look fine, your teeth are white as can be, your breath smells fine, you have mints in your pocket, your hair looks good, there's nothing on your face or tux and no, you are not coming down with anything."

"Yeah okay." Relics said and then started strumming his fingers as they started towards Lana's house. "Sorry, it's the first time I've ever gone out on a date with an alie- I mean Cornerian."

"Don't sweat it. Just don't go acting like a twat in front of her or the millions of people watching. Okay?"

"Okay." Relics said falling back in his chair with that comforting thought as Jason rolled down his window and flipped somebody off who cut him off from pulling out of the driveway.

~X~X~X~X~

"Damn it, Lana! Open this damn door!" Fara shouted as she pounded on the locked bathroom door.

"No! Just go away! I can't do this. Please tell Relics I'm sorry, but I can't!" Lana said from the other side.

"YOU CAN'T!?" Fara shrieked. "We just spent three fucking hours styling up that dress and you say you can't? Like, Hell no! You are going, Lana!"

"But I can't I'm not dressed properly, my fur is a mess, and my hair is even worse!"

"Lana! We didn't just spend the last three hours brushing and grooming you so you can give me that bullshit. Now get out here before I make you my bitch!"

"Like you could!" Lana retorted.

"I won't go easy on you this time! I'll pull your tail, punch your boobs, bite your neck, claw every part of you and then I'll… wait a second, wow that was dirty. Never mind! Just get out here and be downstairs before seven!" Fara growled before storming off downstairs. Sometimes Lana was a bigger headache then a giant drill to the brain. But Fara sort of understood her angst. Relics was an alien and after all the crap they had seen on TV, all the media news coverage of him and Lana having a date tonight, it was hard to blame her. Fara wished she could have been there when those cunts called Lana an attention seeking slut who was only going to dump him the next day. Lana wasn't like that at all.

The auburn vixen checked her phone and saw it was fifteen minutes till seven. Since Lana's parents weren't home she doubted they'd mind her getting into their fridge. As much as Lana's parents loved her, they didn't like her appetite. For some reason, no matter how much she ate she never gained an ounce, unless it was in muscle. Fara suspected it was because she was one fourth wolf; they had amazing metabolisms. The vixen opened the fridge door and ransacked it. Leftover spaghetti, some pepperoni pizza, manicotti and the lasagna failed to elude the vixen's hands.

"Gotta love fox food." Fara said to herself and started readying a plate. She was rather generous with herself and made a large plateful of food before putting the few remaining morsels back into the fridge and her own food into the microwave. After a quick ten second warm up Fara took the food out and took a bite of the delicious smelling, hot spaghetti. "Mm, Mr. Tress must have cooked this. Mrs. Tress couldn't cook to save the Lylat."

As the vixen readied a second bite the doorbell rang. "Son of a bitch!" Fara groaned and put the plate down on the decorative marble counter top next to the state of the art refrigerator. The vixen walked to the door but before she opened it she put her ear to it. The first voice she recognized was the human's but it sounded strange and almost stressed.

"Oh, what do you know, she isn't home. Let's get going-"

"Hang on Relics she could just be in the shower or coming to the door as we speak." Another voice said reassuringly. "Or her parents are getting their gun to cap your sorry ass-'

"Don't even joke about that!" the human scowled painstakingly nervously while the vixen giggled quietly to herself on the other side of the door. "If that's true then I'm using you as a human- I mean Cornerian shield."

"Why? Can't you just dodge it-"

"_Shut_ _up_! We aren't supposed to talk about that!" Relics hissed quietly.

'Dodge? Dodge what? A laser?' Fara thought to herself. And pressed her ear to the door even harder hoping they'd go on.

"Sorry, Relics."

"Yeah, just don't bring it up again Jason; we'll both get in trouble." Relics said and then there was a pause. "Crap, I'm going to try it again."

Before Relics could press the doorbell again, Fara opened the door on him. As she opened her mouth to speak but she suddenly lost her words. The human looked, good. Damn good. The tux fit him very well and for some reason it looked right on him. The human's snowy white hair was parted at the center of his forehead and hung just above his gorgeous eyes. She could smell a strange, but pleasing, smell coming from him; like the exotic scent of an off-worlder. And finally his eyes. They were different from how they were at school; they seemed calmer, less intense, and softer, like silver rather than ice.

"Hello again, Fara." Relics said when he waited in vain for Fara to say anything. The vixen snapped out of her gaze and smiled pleasantly.

"Oh, hey Relics. Come on in, Lana should be down in a second." She said and opened the door for him and Jason. "Hello, I don't think we've met." Fara said holding out a paw.

Jason took her paw by her fingers and shook (as do Cornerian males do to females rather than the full fledged handshake). "Lance Corporal Jason Mahoney. I'm Relics' chauffer and personal guard."

"Charmed. I'm Fara Phoenix." Fara replied warmly and shut the door behind him. "So… Relics… how was your first day of school?"

'_A mixture of a train wreck and spontaneous combustion.'_

"Alright, could have been better but when is school ever perfect?" Relics asked making the vixen snigger.

"Can't answer that… so uh how was sixth period? I wasn't there today because I had to help the freshman to their classes without getting eaten by the seniors but tomorrow I'll be there. Hey maybe we'll play paintball!"

"Sixth period." Relics said with a bitter taste in his mouth. "I got really acquainted with Captain Fritz and the Fun Zone."

"Oh God!" Fara groaned. "Let me guess, you were late?" The human nodded. "Well don't be late again or you won't get to play paintball."

"Yeah I'll try. He sure is a hard ass though- no offense." Relics added trying to be as tactful as he could after letting that first bit slip.

"None taken. He _is _a hard ass. Rule one of his class, he is never wrong and rule two, if he is wrong rule one applies." Fara said and Jason started laughing.

"Jeez! How old is that guy? Only the old guys on base use that expression anymore."

"I don't know, he can't be _that_ old. Sure rides my a-" Relics said but stopped when he heard something behind him. The human turned around and was immediately struck by what he saw. Beauty, a pure yet complex vision of beauty. By most human standards that wouldn't have been the case though. Lana stood at the top of the stairs, her red dress as deep and seductive as her eyes, her hair was combed and behind her shoulders on one side, her ears were upright and she looked so astonishing.

'_Holy crap! Is it just me or is she…' _Relics trailed off when he couldn't find a word. She cut him at the core and he kind of liked it.

Lana was just as silent as he. She couldn't begin to believe how good he looked in a tux. Almost formal but almost dangerous, like a spy with a license to kill and love. His hair was different from before, it wasn't combed back but it was split at the center of his forehead allowing it to compliment his eyes. Despite the gap of species, both sides were amazed on how good the other looked.

"I think they broke each other." Fara whispered when the long awkward silence stretched on into minutes. It was awkward to Jason and Fara because both of them felt like at any moment one of them would snap but to Relics and Fara, it could last forever for all they cared.

"You alright buddy?" Jason asked putting a paw on Relics' shoulder and shaking slightly.

"Huh? What?" Relics said snapping out of his stupor. Relics looked at Jason but the German Sheppard slightly and inconspicuously jutted his head at Lana. "Oh shit." He whispered so mutely he almost didn't catch it. "Hello Lana, you look great."

'_Well we're obviously off to a good start. Hey Lana, you look great!' _Relics thought to himself like his I.Q couldn't surpass sixty four._ 'Dumbass.'_

"Why… why thank you. You look… great." The minx said and so began another length in time where nothing happened. Relics and Lana just stood there staring at each other for what felt like blissful hours. She was cute, he had to admit and in that dress she was stunningly cute. It surprised him that he was even thinking this. Mere hours ago he detested the entire Cornerian race but that seemed to be changing quickly, especially around Lana.

"You know, we better get going or there won't be any tables left." Jason said.

"Yeah… sure Jason." Relics said absent mindedly. In truth he was only half listening, all he heard was "going" and "tables."

"Have a good time Lana; I'll be here when you get back." Fara said but then whispered deviously. "That is if you ever get back. Make sure you make him use protection, and show him how Cornerian girls party."

"Okay Fara." Lana said but like Relics she only heard a few words. Something about Relics was so irresistible to look at. He looked good in a suit, damn good.

"In one ear out the other." Jason mumbled and let Relics and Lana go on ahead. "Are her parents here?"

"No, they're on Zoness." Fara replied with a shrug.

'_My God, when did she get so pretty? There must be something wrong with me to be this attracted to an alien-'_

"So… Relics." Lana said as they walked towards the black SUV but cleared her throat when she had nothing to say to him. She just felt like she should end the silence or the date would be over before it began.

"Yes?" Relics asked and opened the backseat door for her.

"Um… where are we going?" Lana asked.

Relics nearly choked, he knew exactly where they were going but would she approve? Jason said that the Winchester was a great place but then again, Jason wasn't always the most level headed person. To him a yellow light means floor it until your foot crashes through the flooring, and a honk was a personal challenge to a street fight.

"The Winchester." Relics said strangely because he half expected the minx to laugh in his face and go back in her house. What he got though was completely the opposite of what he expected.

"The Winchester!? How in Lylat can we get a table there? That has to be the second classiest restaurant in the Lylat! You don't have to take me there; I'd be fine with takeout from a drive-thru." Lana said as Relics held the car door open for her. "Thank you."

"But you're so well dressed and why waste something so beau- nice on a fast food place?" Relics said catching himself mid-syllable.

Cute, that she was, but beautiful? Well, that wasn't foreseeable in the near future. She was an alien hybrid of an anthropomorphic fox and feline after all, not a human and maybe it was his soft spot and general likeness for animals that made him think she was cute at all. Still, she did have a lot of things going for her. He felt ashamed but he had to admit that her figure was probably one of the sexiest he had seen in his life that wasn't on paper, on a screen or wasn't in his head. Her thighs curved perfectly into her hips and her breasts finished the perfect hourglass shape. His greatest fantasy couldn't hope to compare to her body. Not to mention her eyes, they were so amazing, like rubies as red as blood.

'_If only she were human.'_ He thought to himself wishfully.

"Thank you Relics." Lana said blushing under her fur. "But really, you don't have to take me to somewhere so fancy."

"But you're dressed too well for anything less." Relics said as Jason approached the car. As he did, Relics fastened his seatbelt tighter so that it would better protect himself. "You probably should buckle up. Jason is a good guy but he's a psycho on the road."

"Okay." Lana said and reached for the buckle Relics was happening to sit on. "My, aren't you red." Lana pointed out after she buckled herself up but not before accidently grazing Relics' behind.

"Yeah well this suit is a little uh… warm." Relics lied as he burned an even brighter red.

"Alright so we're all in?" Jason asked and sat down in the driver seat. Without an answer the German Sheppard said. "Too late, we're off!" He said and then hauled ass out of the driveway. Relics clenched up and made a look that he shit his pants. Lana on the other hand wasn't so worried and buckled herself in as casually as she would if they weren't hurtling down the private street at sixty miles an hour.

'_I HATE, when he does that.' _Relics thought to himself as his facial features smoothed out. _'Thank God Lana didn't see that face I just made.'_

"So Lana, what time should you be home by?" Jason asked as he slammed on his brakes to stop at a stoplight and keep out of the cop in the other lane's crosshair.

"Eleven would be nice since we have school tomorrow." Lana said without any sign of distress in her voice.

'_You can't tell me she's used to this kind of thing! Jason would lead us into a horrible, fiery cataclysmic wreck if there was even a droplet's worth of ice on the road!'_

"Alright, hold on a sec I got to make a call." Jason said and then rolled up the window that separated the front seat from the backseat.

'_Just who the Hell is he- wait a minute.'_ Relics thought when he remembered the minx sitting right next to him only a foot away. _'Crap! What do I say? I was always terrible at breaking the ice!'_

Fortunately for the panicking human, he didn't have to. "So Relics, I… I uh… I didn't say so earlier but you look… very handsome." Lana said nervously hoping she wasn't going too far. The memory of her pinching his butt was still fresh in her mind and she didn't want to give off any other crude signals or let this go too far too fast.

'_Well son of a bitch! Thank you Lana. Alright, return the compliment, and so help me God don't you dare call her-' _Relics thought but it was already too late, his body and voice went on autopilot.

"Thanks. I didn't say so back then either but-"

'_NOOOOOOOO! ABORT! ABORT!'_

"-you look really-"

'_I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!'_

"-beautiful."

'…_Critical overload in three seconds.'_

Even in the low lighting and through the minx's fur, Relics could see her turn red. After that the minx's hands got fidgety, her ears twitched on occasion, and she stopped looking him in the eyes. The human immediately began to feel awkward and he too restarted burning red but he was more visible.

'_What? Do you honestly think I'm going to bail you out of this one? Listen if you aren't going to listen to me then I'm not going to save your ass every time you go around fucking things up with Cornerians!'_ Relics said to himself in an extreme case of split personality.

"Th-thank you Relics." Lana said and couldn't look him in the eyes, still though; she just sent a tidal wave of relief at Relics. For some reason things were flowing smoothly, both were warming up to the other and despite the species difference they were both impressed with the other's appearance.

'_Why though!? Why did you just say that? Do you have any idea how god damn wrong that was of you to say!? Her kind killed dad, yet here you are hitting on her!'_ Relics thought to himself but then looked at the minx. He didn't move a muscle as he looked her over with in the corner of his eyes. _'But… she is really nice, she had nothing to do with anything that happened back home, and she is cute- for a humanoid cat that is. Oh crap! She's looking! Look away!'_ Relics thought when he saw Lana looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. Their eyes met and immediately ran away from each other.

A few minutes later of nothing but long awkward silence a soft, warm feeling encompassed Relics' hand. Relics almost had a heart attack but when he saw what it was he calmed down. Lana's long, short haired tail was resting on his hand and apparently she didn't know it.

The nervous human cleared his throat and licked his dry lips. "So Lana-" Relics managed to say before he and Lana lurched forward when the SUV came to an abrupt stop.

"Alright you guys, we're here." Jason said rolling down the window. "Honestly if you two made-out any louder I would have gone deaf!"

"We weren't making out, Jason!" Relics growled.

"Sure you weren't." Jason said and rolled his brown eyes. "I could hear it through the window, it was like." Jason said and then started making various sucking, slurping, moaning and lip smacking noises. Relics wasn't the least bit amused but Lana let out a little giggle. "Alright you two, I called ahead and they know your coming and let me tell you, the manager and my boy Fraser there is probably pissing his pants knowing that you're coming Relics."

'_Yippee… he-he-he, pee.'_

"You know the manager of the Winchester?" Lana asked with an awestruck look.

"Yep, he let me have my wedding's banquet there." Jason said smugly. "All I had to do was give his brother one of my kidneys."

"Really!?" Lana exclaimed.

"No not really, we knew each other before he inherited the restaurant and we stayed in touch for a few years before I met… well you know what? Enough of my life story. Get out of here you two, have a good time and when you need a ride back just call." Jason said.

"Thanks Jason." Relics said, slowly turning the handle to his door. Without warning all his nervousness, angst, and paranoia came back. Inside the car were Jason and Lana, two of the closest things he had to friends on Corneria, and outside was the rest of Corneria.

"Relics? Are you alright?" Lana asked concernedly and put her hand on the frozen human's shoulder.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm okay." Relics said quickly then thought of an excuse even quicker. "This doorknob is just a little stuck is all." He said and opened the door with over excessive force for show. "There, got it."

Relics felt like something made his insides disappear as he got out of the SUV. Within moments every single alien eye was upon him just like back at school. The Cornerians on the sidewalk instantly homed in on the alien. They all started staring and some of them gawked at him but when Lana got out it was almost like a bomb just went off except nobody screamed. They just stood there watching and whispering. The human was just as stricken as them; there were dozens, if not over a hundred people on the sidewalk. Relics couldn't even begin to think of what to do as he suffered under the biggest mind fuck of his young life.


	11. The Date pt 2

"Oh crap." Lana said quietly so that only Relics heard her. "Relics, what do we do?" She asked.

'_RUN! RUN AND LEAVE HER BEHIND TO GET EATEN!'_

"Let's go inside." Relics said with a dry raspy voice since the back out his throat, his mouth, and tongue had suddenly gone dry.

As they walked towards the Winchester's doors, Relics heard the people talking.

"What is that, _human,_ doing going to the Winchester?"

"He's obviously on a date."

"With her!? She's probably some attention seeking slut who sank her claws into him the first chance she got!"

"Don't get jealous-"

"Jealous!? Jealous of her? She can have that alien freak." That last comment was a lot louder then the others.

'_Freak just about sums it up.'_ Relics thought glumly but didn't let the fact that the comment got to him show. In truth he really was a freak, even on Earth. He couldn't blend in a human mob if his life depended on it, his pale skin, icy eyes, and pallid hair saw to that. Now he was on Corneria taking aliens out on dates, thinking impure thoughts about them and some of which were plain inappropriate to him after he realized he thought them. Thinking of Lana's naked body sent a small lustful feeling like he got from thinking of naked human women and then a jolt of disgust, shame and revulsion through him.

"Thank you." Lana said as Relics held the door open for her.

"You're welcome." Relics said as he followed her in and he was instantly smothered in a fascinating array of delicious smells. He didn't have an idea what half of them were but the other half he knew them because they smelt just like how they tasted. The Winchester was a wonder and a half. There were windows as tall as the three story ceiling, their curtains were a deep red (almost as deep as Lana's dress and eye color), the tables were draped in a regal, lacy edged, pure white tablecloth, the carpet was decorated in a complex pattern and several waiters and waitresses darted with dignity, grace but a sense of urgency from kitchen to customer.

"I can't believe I'm going to eat here!" Lana said to herself excitedly as the atmosphere of the Winchester started to overcome her.

"Is it a good place?" Relics asked. Sure the place looked nice but was the food any good?

"Good? People have set up reservations a year in advance to get here, and yet you can get a table like that!" Lana said as her tail whisked around with a life of its own. Despite her excitement she was nervous, trembling nervous, but didn't want to let Relics know that. Luckily for her he was just as nervous so he didn't notice.

Relics and Lana waited patiently for a waiter but the longer they waited, the more eyes drifted towards them. A bead of sweat ran down the back of Relics' neck when he saw one couple stare intently at them and just ramble off. What were they thinking, what were they saying? He was too far away to know but at the moment what they were saying seemed important for some reason.

"Good evening!" Came a deep and sudden voice making both Lana and Relics jump. The owner of the voice was a very big ape that dwarfed everyone around him. "My name is Luis Fraser, proprietor of the Winchester and tonight your humble waiter. I must say I was so ecstatic hearing you would be dining with us tonight, Mister McCloud." Fraser said taking Relics' right hand and shook it vigorously.

"Nice to meet you Mister Fraser." Relics said and after another ten seconds of handshaking, he got his hand back. _'Great, got it back just in time for the circulation to keep it alive.'_

"And this must be your date, Lana Tress. The pleasure is all mine." Fraser said shaking Lana's hand much kinder and only by her fingers as by Cornerian custom.

"Oh I'm not so sure about that." Lana said with a meager, somewhat frightened smile.

'_Well it certainly isn't mine. I'm quiet sure that this guy could eat me like a banana… wait was that racist? I hope not cause I fucking love banana flavor… wait, what was I just thinking about?'_

"Well aren't you charming young lady, and do I smell Zoness Lily flower?" Fraser asked with a pleasant smile.

"Indeed sir." Lana replied quietly with a small smile.

"A pretty flower and a pretty scent, for an even prettier young woman."

'_Oooookaaaay. Tonight on To Catch a Predator…'_

"Why thank you, Mister Fraser." Lana replied with a much brighter smile then before.

"You're very welcome, now let me show you two to your table, I hope you enjoy it; it's our fireside table for two." Fraser said which apparently was good according to the little excited mew Lana made. The large, brown ape then led the young couple through the sea of tables and confused Cornerians. Relics caught whispers of their conversations, a lot of them were wondering just what was going on and some of the more snobby were outraged by the special treatment Relics and Lana were receiving.

"Here we are; your table." Fraser said and pulled Lana's chair out for her. "Can I get you two anything to start with?"

The brown minx looked to Relics. "I'm fine, if you want anything then by all means."

"N-no, I'm fine too." Lana replied.

"Very well, anything to drink?"

Once more Lana looked to Relics which puzzled the human. He had no idea what they should have, liquor was out of the question for him as he wanted to be as classy and as much of a gentleman as possible. The only thing he knew Cornerians had that he'd like was water. Yet for some reason Lana kept looking at him as if he was to order for her.

"I'll just stick with water… unless, Lana do you like anything?" Relics asked.

"I…" Lana said and under the table her hands were trying to crush the other in a fierce wrestling match. "Water will be fine with me too."

"Very well, I'll be right back." Fraser said and walked off to fetch two glasses of water.

The human glanced at the menu for a second but his focus returned to Lana who was just sitting across from him with her hands under the table. She had a look on her face like she just did something wrong and was ashamed.

"Lana? Are you okay?" Relics asked.

"I'm fine." Lana replied too quickly and not at all convincingly.

"You sure you don't want something to drink? I don't know anything good yet, that's why I'm sticking with water, but you can have _anything_ you like." Relics said softly trying to cajole her into getting something nice and treat herself. She might be a Cornerian but she was still a woman, and he firmly believed in treating a woman right.

"Are, are you sure?" Lana asked.

"Yeah. Anything you want, I'll pay for it." Relics said and his wove his fingers together then placed his elbows on the table.

'_She's so nervous, I got to do something to make her more comfortable or this date is going to suck worse than when I first used a Cornerian toilet. Activate the charm!' _Relics thought to himself and his leg began to shoot up and down repeatedly.

"I don't want you to spend everything you got on me-"

"Nonsense, you'd be worth every credit." Relics interrupted. "And don't worry, I brought well over enough."

'_Actually I brought every credit I've got since I got here, all one thousand of them.'_

The blush returned to the minx's face and she couldn't look Relics in the eyes. "Thank you." She mewed quietly.

'_Perfect, now I can turn the charm down. Now, ask her a little bit about herself.'_

"So Lana, what do you like to do?" Relics asked. _'See how easy this is when you just listen to me?'_

"Oh, well." Lana said then thought to herself a little bit. "I'm pretty social and I like hang out with my friends. Miyu has been teaching me how to ride a horse and when I don't hang out with friends, I run."

"Run?" Relics echoed.

"Yes, run." Lana replied happily when she saw the small spark of interest in Relics' eyes and wasn't boring him to death. "Five miles every morning and ten on the weekends."

'_Holy shit! I usually start my day with a good ass scratch and cereal.'_ Relics thought as his face showed genuine awe.

"Well that would explain why you're so fast. I hardly stayed ahead of the falling floors but you were always at least ten steps ahead of it." Relics said and then his leg stopped jumping up and down under the table. "I run too, but no where near as fast as you."

'_I would run a lot faster if I didn't have this fucking Suppressor on my neck though.'_ Relics thought grimly in the back of his head as quickly scratched an itch under it.

"Do humans always wear collars?" Lana asked.

"No, not all of us." Relics said as the Suppressor started to itch even more under Lana's observant eyes. She looked at the Suppressor for a while, almost as if she was on to him which made the Suppressor itch terribly. But eventually the red eyed minx shook it off and said.

"Well it looks good on you- but not in a weird way." Lana added quickly. "I mean you don't look good like a pet or a boy toy, you look good like someone with a good sense in fashion, not an interest into bonda- "

"Lana I understand what you meant." Relics laughed. _'Boy toy? Bondage? Girl, what is going through your mind? …Then again, maybe its best I don't know.' _Relics thought when he imagined himself being let on by a leash attached to his Suppressor.

"Oh, okay good." Lana sighed and then smiled nervously and couldn't look Relics in the eyes at the moment.

"Here you are." Fraser said coming out of nowhere like a falcon onto prey. The large ape's sudden appearance made both the human and minx jump, Lana let out a quiet gasp of surprise, and Relics nearly swallowed his tongue.

"How did you do that?" Relics asked when he stopped coughing.

"Do what, Mister McCloud?" Fraser asked placing both glasses onto the table on their own special little silk coasters.

"I can hear the couple two tables down talking about having children but I couldn't hear you coming! How did you do that?" Relics asked looking up at the large ape.

"I'm sorry, Mister McCloud; I have very quick and very quiet feet." Fraser said and inclined his head slightly in apology.

"I'll say." Relics said and took a sip of his ice cold water. _'Refreshing.'_ Relics thought and ignored the hair in his mouth from the water cup. Cornerians might be used to fur and hair all over the place but he wasn't. If he found a hair in his drink or food back home he could easily get it free.

"Are you both ready to order, or do you need more time?" Fraser asked moving off the last subject.

"I'll have what she has." Relics said putting Lana on the spot. It wasn't his intention to do so but whatever Lana thought was good might be half way decent to him. So with Lana deciding there was a far less chance of getting something that would make him vomit more than the little bit in his mouth.

"I… I guess I'll have the… I… well." Lana said sheepishly.

"Might I suggest the Tatina steak?" Fraser said and Lana nodded quickly. "Very well, two Tatina Steaks. I'll return shortly with them." Fraser said as he walked off with their menus. Relics strained to hear his footsteps but couldn't hear anything over that damned couple trying to decide a name for their love child.

"Sorry." Lana said when Fraser was gone.

"For what?"

"Well those steaks are… pretty big and very expensive." Lana said ashamedly, like a child who just threw a ball through a window would. "I just froze up, I'm sorry. I've never been on a date this nice, and with a person as nice as you."

Relics raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Lana licked her dry lips and looked at the soft, white tablecloth. "Well, when I was with Wolf, he always took charge. He'd always order my food and drinks."

'_So that's why she's acting this way, she's used to being controlled. What a sick fuck that Wolf guy is.'_ Relics thought in disgust but gave Lana a warm smile.

"Hey, Lana, forget about him and just enjoy yourself." Relics said without a care in the world when in reality he was punching the lupine in his mind.

"Alright… s-so Relics what do you do like to do?"

'_Oh I don't know, eat, sleep, hang out with human friends, and watch a month's worth of porn in one hour… not necessarily in that order.'_

"Well If I can keep from getting nearly decapitated, that Pong game isn't too bad." Relics said then took another sip of his water. This time there was no hair.

"Yeah, I heard you and Bill did a Marilyn Hangover. Those are really hard to do."

"Marilyn Hangover, that pretty much sums it up. I couldn't see straight for a good five minutes." Relics laughed as did Lana.

"Well thank goodness you were seriously hurt. Some people get concussions or other serious head trauma doing that." Lana said after she was done laughing.

'_Who knows, maybe I already have severe head trauma and this is all an uncomfortable dream with you thrown in?'_

"Oh no!" Relics said just as he was about to take another sip of his water.

"What? What's wrong?" Lana asked nervously as Relics shook his head.

"Nothing. I just forgot your flowers back in the car." Relics sighed. _'Good job dumbass.'_

"Flowers?" Lana asked almost as if she had never been given a gift her entire life.

"Yeah, Zoness Lilies." Relics replied as he pinched his leg under the table out of bitter spite of himself. Jason went to all the trouble to get him the flowers for her and he fucks it up. He would never have forgotten the gift back home for his dates there, so why did he forget now?

"You're too kind Relics, I… I'm glad I met you." Lana said with a heavenly voice and a soft hand reaching out to his clenched fist. Relics looked up and got caught in her gorgeous eyes and adorable feline face.

'_Oh yeah, that's why I forgot.'_ Relics thought and forgot everything but Lana's soft paw on his hand and her remarkable eyes.

"You have beautiful eyes." Relics let slip but didn't even know he did.

"And you do too." Lana said staring back into his eyes. "They're just like silver."

The two teens became things worse then zombies and stared into each other's eyes until Fraser came back with their food (which was a few minutes).

"Two Tatina steaks, anything else I can get you? Some more drinks maybe?" Fraser asked as he set the steaks down on the table and freed the human and the minx from their staring contest.

"Hmm? What?" Relics asked and quickly snatched his hand away from Lana's.

Fraser looked at Relics and smiled suspiciously. "Do you need anything else, Mister McCloud?" Fraser asked with a tone that almost sounded like he knew something was going on.

"Err… anything you can suggest?" Relics asked.

'_Juice? A soda of some kind?'_

"That I can, I have quite the extensive wine collection. May I suggest a Cornerian vineyard? It's of finest quality and over a hundred years old."

'_Or something to get me drunk.'_

"Sure, I'll have a glass." Relics shrugged.

"And you my dear?" Fraser asked.

"I, I'll have a glass." Lana said nervously while punching herself mentally for saying yes to a hundred credit drink.

"I'll be right back." Fraser said and rushed off to fetch the wine.

"Damn that human is loaded if he can afford to eat here."

"He probably gets everything free."

"Probably, lucky son of a-"

"Here we are." Fraser said bringing back a bottle of wine and two crystal glasses. Fraser started pouring and didn't stop at Relics' glass until it was nearly at the rim.

'_Is that enough or am I not supposed to remember anything that happened tonight?'_

"That's plenty." Lana said when the glass reached a fourth of the way. Fraser stopped pouring and left the bottle on the table.

"Anything else?" Fraser asked.

"No, I'm good." Relics said tearing his eyes from the steak as big as his head and as wide as his thumb. Fraser looked to Lana but she just shook her head.

"Very well, I'll leave you to your meal." Fraser said and left them alone once more.

Relics smiled weakly and looked at Lana. "This is a big steak."

"Yes it is… sorry." Lana said reluctantly looking into his eyes.

"Don't be, it looks delicious." Relics lied. To him the steak which was completely normal was something strange and alien. Still Relics picked up his spork and knife and started cutting. "Lana, aren't you hungry?" Relics asked when Lana hadn't so much as moved towards her food or drink.

"A little bit." Lana said when in reality she had lost her appetite long ago. As much as she liked Relics, she was so nervous. The only other guy she ever went out with was Wolf and he was no gentleman. She never breathed, said or did anything without his say first when they were on dates.

"Something wrong?" Relics asked grateful he could put his utensils down.

"Relics." Lana said looking the human in the eye. "Nothing's wrong."

"Okay." Relics said not fully believing her but if she didn't want to talk about it he wouldn't force her to. The human then decided to take a sip of his wine but when he did his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "This is good wine." Relics said and downed half of his glass.

"Is it?" Lana asked and took a sip before finishing off her glass. "Wow it is!"

"Here, have some more." Relics said and filled her glass just over halfway so he didn't look like he was trying to get her drunk or anything.

'_Get crunk I guess.' _Relics thought and took another sip.

From there the couple's mood lightened. There were no more awkward moments, they talked and laughed most of the time and Relics had become blind to what he was eating and ate almost all of his twelve inch steak before putting his utensils down. There wasn't a thing Lana and he didn't talk about. As they talked, Relics found that Lana was probably the coolest person he'd met yet and he also liked Cornerian wine, a lot.

"Good God that was good!" Relics sighed, his cheeks burning red and a small buzz fluttered around in his head. He wasn't drunk, he knew his limits and he'd be damned before he got drunk and made an ass of himself in front of the Cornerian race and above all Lana.

"Oh Relics, you're such a beast!" Lana laughed. "I didn't know anyone could eat that much." Lana giggled as she calmed down a bit. Lana had a buzz as well but it was a lot bigger then Relics'.

"Well it takes a beast to know a beast!" Relics retorted while smiling playfully. "I think you took one more bite than I did." Relics said pointing at Lana's steak. The minx looked at her own plate and started cracking up. "W-W-Why are you laughing?" Relics asked. "Are you drunk?"

Lana scoffed and waived her hand. "I'm not drunk, ya big silly."

"Y-Yes you are!" Relics laughed. "You're drunk!"

"No I'm not!" Lana argued back but then picked up the empty wine bottle. "Well maybe a little buzzed." Lana snickered

"H-Hey where is everybody?" Relics asked as he looked around. The Winchester was completely deserted, not a single table was open and the fire they had been sitting by had gone out.

"I… I think they left." Lana said looking around. "Oh! Do you think we were too loud?"

"No madam," Fraser said coming out of nowhere causing the slightly tipsy teens to reel back in fright, "it's just that we closed an hour ago."

"What? Oh! Oh no! We better get going!" Relics said standing up. "How much do I owe you?"

"No charge." Fraser said warmly and tried to keep the snickers in.

"No, no, no, no, no… no." Relics said and regained his balance which he lost when he stood up. "That was by far, the _best_ meal, best service and best wine I've ever had." Relics said reaching for his money in his pocket. "Now how much do I owe you good sir?"

Fraser shook his head and chuckled. "Two hundred Credits if you insist."

Relics looked at Fraser before pulling out a black disk the size of a large coin. "I'll give you, this many!"

Fraser took the disk and his eyes dilated. "Mister McCloud, this is well more than enough."

"Yeah but you forgot the tip." Relics said and helped Lana out of her chair. "Thank you mister Fraser but we must be going now. I give your restaurant five stars."

"Just five?" Fraser asked worriedly and looked like he was going to pass out.

"What do you mean just five?" Relics asked.

"Relics on Corneria it goes up to seven." Lana whispered then giggled to herself.

"Oh, well… seven and a half then. Come Lana! Our ride is probably going to come in here and kill me for keeping him up this late!" Relics said and led Lana out of the restaurant.

Fraser watched them go and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh under his breath. The human was by far the strangest thing he ever seen but he seemed alright. For an alien he wasn't half bad.

~X~X~X~X~

"W-Where do you think he got off to?" Relics asked as he dialed Jason's number on his wrist com. "Not too far away I hope, I need to get you home before school."

"Oh don't worry Relics, I had a great time!" Lana said and started to giggle. "Remember the story you told me about the human on the way here? Come on! Tell it again!"

Relics smiled and waived his hand. He and Lana had become deaf, blind and oblivious to all the people around him but he still felt the joke was a little embarrassing. "No, no I shouldn't."

"Oh come on, you tell it so well." Lana cooed.

"All right, well we had to take an older model ship here and with the twenty armed escorts it was like sticking a car into a pack of gum! We went half the speed of smell I swear." Relics said getting a lot of laughs from the tipsy minx. "The pilot kept sticking his arm out and told the meteors to, _go around!_ And half way there one of the engines gave out and the pilot told us over the radio. I thought that was stupid cause he could have turned around and been like, hey we lost one of the engines… we're kind of screwed."

Lana was nearly on the ground she was laughing so hard. It was so easy to make her laugh even when she wasn't drunk Relics found. He only prayed she wasn't being nice and letting on that she thought he was funny. When other Cornerians started laughing around them however Relics was a little more reassured.

"Now the guy next to me was, freaking out!" Relics stressed loudly. "I didn't give a damn I was all like, _take her down I don't care! Hit something hard! I don't want to limp away from this wreck._ Apparently he had a lot to live for. He's all twitchy and says to me. Hey man, hey man! If the other engines fail, how far will the escape pods take us? All the way to the scene of the crash I said!" Relics said and got an uproar not from just Lana but everyone around him listening. "Which is pretty handy cause that's where we're heading! I bet we'll beat the paramedics there by about a month!"

This time Lana fell down she was laughing so hard and several Cornerians started applauding. Relics looked around and nodded. "All right you want more? Well there was this one time, at band camp-"

"There you are!" Jason shouted as he pulled up to Relics and the hysterical Lana.

"Uh oh. The fun killer's here. Sorry everyone I have to go." Relics said despite several aws and requests to stay. "No, no! I got to get this young lady home. Thank you have a good night." Relics said while Jason loaded Lana into the car and then loaded him into the car. Relics waved good bye through the windows while Jason sped off.

"Honestly Relics!" Jason scowled as he drove like a wild man to Lana's house. "Staying up till one in the morning, getting wasted and your date wasted!"

"Oh come on Jason, lighten up." Relics groaned, still feeling loose and open minded. He didn't care Lana was now sleeping on his shoulder and he definitely didn't care he kind of liked it.

"General Pepper will have my _ass_ if I don't get you home before two!" Jason said running a red light.

"I'll take the heat, besides it's my fault, she is a really awesome chick!" Relics said and then started cracking up.

"What are you laughing at now?" Jason scowled.

"Nothing." Relics said truthfully. He had no reason for cracking up like that but he did anyways. _'Hmm, perhaps I'm a little drunker than I thought? Nah! You crazy! You crazy!'_

"Alright we're here. Drop her off, kiss her good night and get your ass back in here!" Jason said pulling into Lana's drive through.

Relics rolled his eyes and gently shook Lana awake. The minx woke up slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she almost fell back to sleep when she felt the warm, sweet smelling thing she was laying on.

"Lana, Lana, you're home." Relics cooed.

"No, let me sleep." Lana said snuggling up onto Relics' chest.

"Sorry Lana but I got to get you home." Relics said and much to the minx's disappointment she got up.

"Alight, take me home then." Lana said and followed Relics out the car door. The human led Lana slowly up to her door making sure to take it easy since she was a little tipsier than he. Fortunately though they made it without problems.

"Well, here we are." Relics said and stopped at Lana's door.

"Thank you for going out with me Relics, I had a good time." Lana said and smiled warmly.

"I did to; we should do it again sometime!" Relics said trying his best not to get locked in Lana's eyes.

Lana grinned. "I'd like that."

"Me too." Relics said taking Lana's soft, petite hand and kissed it. "Good night." Relics said right as the door opened.

"There you are!" Fara growled. "Honestly! Staying up till one thirty!? What were you two doing? Scratch that! I don't want to know! Have a good night Relics, see you at school tomorrow." Fara said and yanked Lana into the house and slammed the door shut.

Relics smiled and lingered a moment longer before Jason laid on the horn.

"Come on lover boy! Let's get you home!"


	12. Guitar Hero

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Okay, I've already made this clear before but just in case. Anything that anyone else owns that happens to be in this story is owned by them or their respective owners, and definitely not by me, and anything depicting anybody alive or dead is not their own views/words/doing. I own nothing and will continue to own nothing for as long as I live sadly. Also, Ron White, if you don't know who he is go watch his standup routine! He's awesome!**_

Relics woke up but he didn't want to. His head throbbed, his mouth tasted like he had just eaten raw garlic and was as dry as cotton. The hung-over human groaned and buried his head under his pillow before it was ripped off of him.

"Good morning sleeping beauty!" Jason said as loudly and mock pleasantly as he could without yelling.

"Good morning to you too, Jason." Relics grumbled and tried to slink away under his thick and heavy blankets but the German Sheppard would not allow it. His torment had to continue.

"Rise and shine Relics, we've got school today!" Jason exclaimed.

"No." Relics groaned. "No. Just… just let me lie here another day or two, and do me a favor. Stop blinking so loud. I can hear it from here." The human said and curled up into fetal position.

"On a nice day like this?" Jason asked and ripped the sheets off Relics' body before he opened up the curtains to his room letting in the bright light. Relics made a hissing noise before rolling off his bed and hid from the bright light. "There's the spirit, I'll have breakfast ready by the time you're ready up here!"

Relics shuddered with every one of Jason's loud stomps as he walked off. The human half wanted to die and half wanted to throw up uncontrollably until his stomach felt better. His mind was made up however when he really needed to puke, and he quickly ran to the bathroom. After divulging the last bitter contents in his stomach from the night before, he rested his head on the seat.

"Good ol' toilet bowl, you never treat me wrong… well except when you squirt me in the ass with cold water." Relics added last minute when he remembered the first time he used a Cornerian toilet and the times after. It was such a violating, unkind feeling that he dreaded taking a crap every day. He missed the soft, plush toilet paper, and would do anything to get his hand on just one roll. Once Relics had slightly recovered, he took off his clothes, jumped in the shower and started getting ready for the day ahead.

~X~X~X~X~

"There you are, going casual today?" Jason asked when Relics walked down the stairs with nothing special, just a blue and white T-shirt, white socks, blue and black tennis shoes, and faded navy blue jeans. Relics just nodded and sat at the table in the kitchen. Despite his shower he still felt like shit, soggy, pruned shit. "Cheer up Relics, I made omelets!" Jason said and served up Relics a burnt pile of eggs with other black flakes on it.

"Your wife is the one who cooks at home, isn't she?" Relics asked and picked up his spork despite the voice in his head telling him to set Jason on fire and just eat him.

"More often then not… why?" Jason asked.

"Just a guess." Relics said and forced down several bites of the omelet. When he was almost done, he put his spork down and sighed but didn't puke again which was a new record after eating Jason's cooking. Jason was one of the main reasons he hated Cornerian food, but he had to admit, the Winchester made one mean steak. "There was something important I had to do today… what was it?"

"You had a special presentation in second period today. Something about a gee-tarp?" Jason said and then answered the puzzled look on Relics' face. "One of your classmates was recording the conversation and posted it on the internet. I have to say, your teacher is, _banging! _I'd make that Polly cry out for my cracker! And then I'd-"

"I'll take your word for it." Relics grumbled and put his head down on the table. He still felt like shit and Jason was making it worse with every syllable he uttered. He also reminded him of his unusually, "open" teacher Ms. Kensington.

"Aw what's wrong Relics?" Jason said sympathetically. "Maybe some TV will cheer you up?" Jason asked and turned on the fourteen inch TV in the kitchen.

"-and it looks like this little engine that could, just couldn't do it leaving the entire circus dead on the scene. In other news, the human exchange student has been making headwinds all across the Lylat. There have been dozens of videos posted on the internet only yesterday and have made over six billion hits! But in comparison, this next video has made over twelve billion alone… overnight."

"All right, well we had to take an older model ship here and with the twenty armed escorts it was like sticking a car into a pack of gum! We went half the speed of smell I swear." Relics said on the TV followed by a very familiar laugh. Relics looked up and saw himself looking like a total idiot as he recanted his trip to Corneria. "The pilot kept sticking his arm out and told the meteors to, _go around!_ And half way there one of the engines gave out and the pilot told us over the radio. I thought that was stupid cause he could have turned around and been like, hey we lost one of the engines… we're kind of screwed."

"Turn it off! Please, just turn it off!" Relics groaned. Jason complied but couldn't stop laughing.

"I thought you were really funny! And the best part is-"

"I don't want to know!" Relics moaned under his breath.

"-the General isn't mad at all. We both get to keep our hides! In fact he says he wouldn't mind if you recanted more human comedy, as long as it's appropriate."

'_But at what cost? My self respect? My dignity? God, what was I thinking last night? Why on Earth did I decide to recite that Ron White joke? …Cause I was trying to impress Lana by making her laugh… FUCK! I'm an IDIOT! I've shamed my favorite comedian!'_

"Time to get going Relics, grab your stuff and meet me out in the car." Jason said and left Relics to his humiliation.

What was he thinking? He knew exactly how he got when he drank. If Lana wanted to, he would have made out in public with her. Relics shuddered at the thought, sure she was beautiful, he could no longer deny that, but she was still a feline, scratch that, an alien hybrid fox and feline. When he drank he loosened up like, as his dad put it, there wasn't a pissed off bug stuck to the stick up his ass. Relics shook his head at himself and got up.

'_All right, electric or acoustic?'_ Relics wondered and walked back up to his room. _'Acoustic is nice but this is the first time they've ever seen or heard a guitar and first impressions are always the best… better go electric, even if it is that much more to carry. But then, what song am I going to play? Gets Me Through is an excellent song but… I think that the Oz man deserves to have his songs played with a whole band. Maybe Hotel California? Nah I don't want to sing, I guess I'll just play some riffs and solos, show them some cords and notes and call it a day.'_

~X~X~X~X~

"Have a good day at school Relics; I'll be here at two!" Jason said then sped off. Relics resisted the urge to flip him off and kiss the ground he was still alive, but instead turned around and started walking into his private Hell. Like yesterday everyone, _everyone_ could not keep their eyes off the human only today it was worse. Some of them started saying hi and ran off faster than he could realize they said hi.

"Hey Relics." A rabbit said as she scampered down the hallway as quickly as she could without running. Relics turned to say hi back but she was gone already.

'_Odd. Did I imagine her or… aw whatever.'_

"Hey, Relics." A ferret said and he quickly scurried off before Relics could reply.

"Hi- damn it." Relics growled under his breath.

"RELICS!"

"Oh God!" Relics groaned when he realized just who's voice that was. The human kept walking but this time the shout was closer.

"_RELICS!"_

'_Just keep walking, ignore the voices, they'll go away-'_

"Relics!" Bill said as he moved into Relics' path.

'_FACK!'_

"Hey Bill, what's up?" Relics asked. The canine didn't respond, only a goofy smile curled up across his muzzle and he started laughing creepily. When he didn't stop laughing for two minutes Relics lost his patience. "Don't tell me, you saw a naked chick?" Bill shook his head and kept laughing. "Well what then?"

"Lana's pregnant." Bill said causing Relics to freeze. His face froze into this weird 'holy Hell I just pissed my pants' look, every drop of blood in his body became chilled and his heart nearly stopped all together. Relics took a step back and stumbled, his mouth hanging like he had broken the hinges of his jaw.

"W-What!?" Relics gasped. "She's… WHAT!?"

"Had some fun last night did we?" Bill asked.

"NO! Wait, WHAT!?" Relics shouted causing several people to stop in their tracks. "How can she be pregnant!? We're different species-"

"Aw so you did… you know." Bill said and rammed his left index finger into a little circle he made with his other hand.

"NO! Nothing like that! We just had a few drinks and- why are you laughing!?" Relics snapped.

"Cause Relics…" Bill said but had to get over his fit of hysterical laughing. "I lied, she's not pregnant-"

At first Relics felt nothing but relief, his heart started beating normally again and he felt as if he just dove into a hot spring. Then however, he felt like jumped into a hot spring full of rage and adrenaline. Relics glared at Bill who was now a little afraid and wishing he told Relics over the phone rather then in person. The human put his guitar down and then his amplifier.

"Bill, you have three seconds." Relics panted as he trembled with rage.

"Th-Three seconds till wha-"

"One." Relics said and the bulldog was gone. Relics took a deep breath and picked up his amplifier and guitar before proceeding. After that little incident however, people stopped saying hi to him in the hallways. Relics wasn't someone anyone wanted to tangle with since he beat up the guy that no one should tangle with. The slowly calming human reached his first period class and luckily someone opened the door for him.

"Thanks, oh hi Fara." Relics said when he recognized her because of her large ears.

"Hi Relics." Fara yawned. "What you got there?"

"Just something for second period, it's not a bomb I promise you." Relics said as Fara eyed it suspiciously.

"Good, because I was about to say there are easier ways to kill Bill-"

'_Lol.'_

"-then blowing him, and possibly the entire school up." Fara said as she followed him into the class.

"Oh so he told you about how I got Lana pregnant?"

"WHAT!?" The whole class suddenly shouted. Apparently they didn't hear about Bill's little joke.

"No, no! It's not like that! I- we, we didn't… uh-" Relics said nervously to the sea of shocked Cornerians but it was so embarrassing he could hardly speak. Luckily Fara stepped in and saved his ass.

"He didn't really you guys, he was just telling me about a joke Bill played on him."

"Oh." Most the class said but all of them went back to their own business. Apparently Bill did that kind of thing and everyone knew about it.

"Thank you." Relics sighed.

"Anytime. Where are you going?" Fara asked as Relics started towards his desk in the far right corner of the room.

Relics turned around. "My desk?"

"Nah, come sit by me and Miyu." Fara said cheerfully. "I'm sure she's dying to talk to you as much as I am."

'_Oh… shit.'_ Relics thought nervously but obeyed anyway. He sat on Fara's left leaving the only place for Miyu to sit, on Relics' left. For some reason Relics' couldn't shake the feeling that if Miyu jumped him he'd be jumped from Fara as well. Of course he didn't do anything wrong, or so he hoped. Another drawback from sitting in the front was that he could literally feel all the Cornerian's eyes bore into his back while he listened to them talk about him.

"Jeez, Bill gets me even when he isn't playing one of his tricks on me! I literally thought he might have gotten Lana pregnant by the way he reacted."

"I know, I caught it all on my camera and I'm going to post it on the internet after school! My last video already has a billion hits! And that was just of him talking in front of the class! Think how many hits I'll get this time!"

"Hmm, where is Jake? Usually he's here by now."

"I don't know, maybe he and Bill are planning their next prank? That one with the school intercoms playing fart noises for nearly an hour was classic."

"What do you think that thing the human has is?"

"Dunno, maybe it's that Gatorade thing he talked about yesterday in second period?"

"Hi Miyu!" Fara said enthusiastically, breaking Relics from his eavesdropping. Relics blinked and a lynx, (and a cute one that Relics wouldn't mind petting if she were a real lynx), was right in his face. For a second the human and lynx just stared at each other. Relics felt that if he broke eye contact she'd rip his eyes out, so he kept staring into her blue eyes for dear life.

"Hi there." Miyu finally said.

"Hello." Relics replied weakly and cleared his throat.

The lynx backed off but didn't relent in her mental warfare. "You know, Lana told me all about your little date. She said I didn't have to kick your ass because you were nothing but a perfect gentleman." Miyu said and then got back into his face. "Which is lucky for you. I can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. You so much as flick Fara, and I'll send you back to your human friends in pieces."

'_I think… someone just shat in my pants.' _ Relics thought. "Well no worries then, I wouldn't dream of-"

"Make sure you don't. I'll be watching you Relics." Miyu said and sat down on Relics' left.

'_Phew… least that's over. And hey! I didn't cry! Ha, ha!' _Relics thought affrightedly. At this point all Miyu had to do was shout and Relics would have screamed like a little bitch. Relics doubted that even Wolf was half as terrifying as her, and he was almost three times Miyu's size.

As time wore on and first period slowly inched towards the start, Fara and Miyu talked to each other casually over Relics, who had slunk into his chair in an effort to keep low. More people started to show up, including the golden Labrador Jake. Relics wasn't introduced but after five minutes of listening to him and the way he interacted with people, Relics knew why he was friends with Bill. Finally the starting bell rang and the old weasel Mr. Mackenzie showed up.

"Sorry I'm late class, had problems with the worthless piece of junk that gets me here every morning."

"That's no way to talk about your wife Mr. Mackenzie!" Jake the Labrador said from the far right corner of the class.

"I wasn't Mr. Rivera; I was talking about your mom." The old weasel said casually and got a rise out of the whole class, including Relics who smiled before quickly wiping it away.

'_Burn!'_

"Still haven't lost a step have you, grey bush?" Jake laughed.

"Nope, and at least I have a bush." Mr. Mackenzie said causing a chorus of giggling. "Anyways I have to take roll. Is everyone here?"

"Yes." The class responded.

"Good enough for me- OH SHIT!" Mr. Mackenzie said when he saw Relics in the front. "Mr. McCloud… I see you've changed seats." Relics nodded affirmation while the old grey weasel flattened his fur. "Alright then, on to today's lesson. The laser in motion. Now who can tell me the trajectory of a laser?"

The whole class was silent and Relics prayed that God still loved him and would not let Mr. Mackenzie call on him. The human refused to make eye contact but tried not to look suspicious doing so. He didn't tap his fingers on his desk, he didn't make it obvious that he was purposefully avoiding the teacher's eyes, and he sure as Hell didn't say or make any noise of any kind. But then it hit him. Relics' nose began to twitch and then itch like a bitch. The human tried to fight it but it was too strong and the harder he fought the worse it got. Finally, when he was sure he was going to go mad, it happened.

"AHCHOO!" Relics wound up shouting as he sneezed harder than he ever had in his entire life. Everyone but Miyu fell out of their desks, she was a little put off by Relics' sneeze but she didn't fall out of her desk screaming.

"Bless you, Mr. McCloud." Mr. Mackenzie said getting up from the ground and flattened his fur. "Do you need anything? A tissue maybe?"

"Yeah sure, I got some brain on my shirt from that sneeze." Relics said sarcastically but it was wasted on the old weasel whose muzzle dropped, eyes dilated and nearly popped out of their sockets. "I'm… I'm kidding Mr. Mackenzie."

"Oh." The old weasel said and wiped his forehead. "You're going to kill me if you sneeze again Mr. Relics."

"I'll try not to." Relics reassured.

"Alright. W-Well I guess we'll have to start from the beginning then if none of you can remember the laser's trajectory. There are books in the back, if you would all grab them."

~X~X~X~X~

The second Relics and Fara stepped out of the classroom, she started laughing. "OH MY FUCKING GOD!" Fara said as she fell victim to uncontrollable laughter. "That's twice now Relics! Honestly, do humans all sound like they're going to kill everything within a block's radius when they sneeze?"

"No, some are worse." Relics said blushing red with embarrassment. The only thing he was thankful for from that incident was that he didn't get anything on his shirt or face from when he sneezed. Nope, it was a clean sneeze, well, clean enough.

"Well, I thought it was funny. Anyways you need help with that?" Fara asked as Relics moved his amp around in his grip trying to keep from dropping it.

"No thanks I've got it." Relics replied. _'And besides, do you know how much crap and time it took to get an electric guitar and an amplifier here? It'd take me until winter to get new ones if you lost or broke them.'_

"Well, Relics, I'm off. See you around." Fara said and walked off.

"See ya Fara." Relics called after and went his own way. The hallways began to flood with students but Relics always had a clear path since people moved out of his way. One or two brave souls said hello but ran off quicker than Relics could process their greeting. Other than that, his walk to his next class was uninterrupted. The human sighed silently when he saw that his next class' door was open, so he wouldn't have to wait for someone to open the door. Once inside he was immediately greeted by Ms. Kensington.

"Hello Relics! I was hoping you wouldn't play hooky today!" The white swan said and jumped off her desk. Relics tried to ignore the fact that he could have sworn he saw a flash of pink when Ms. Kensington's skirt moved a certain way. He also tried to ignore the fact that his palms started to sweat. "Is this the… _guitar?_" Ms. Kensington asked as if she was chewing a mouthful of gum.

"Well this is." Relics said hoisting up the guitar case up and then placed the amplifier down on the ground.

"So strange." Ms. Kensington said thoroughly inspecting the case. "Is it something you tap, like a drum?"

'_Don't make a tap it joke, don't make a tap it joke, don't make a tap it joke!'_

"No, not at all really." Relics said placing the case down on the empty desk closest to him. He opened the case revealing a sleek, metal, red guitar shaped like any normal electric guitar only his had a fox with wings on the front.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Ms. Kensington said and looked at Relics. "You mind if I?"

"Go ahead." Relics said and the white swan picked up the guitar by the neck and base and held it close to her. The human forced a smile away as he watched her with the guitar. It was like watching a child shit its pants when it just got a new Nintendo Sixty Four, save the screaming.

"What are these things?"

"Those are the strings; you're supposed to pluck them like this." Relics said and plucked the A string. The note was drowned out however by the starting bell. Most of the class was seated but there were some who had crowded around Relics and Ms. Kensington without them even knowing.

"Dude, what is that?" Bill asked staring at the guitar like it was a new car or something.

"It's a guitar. How long have you been standing behind me?" Relics said once he was over his heart attack.

"Few minutes now." Tracy, the orange feline said who was next to Bill and caused Relics to go into cardiac arrest.

Ms. Kensington suddenly handed Relics his guitar and said. "Alright class, take your seats, not you Relics."

'_Damn it.'_

"Alright, so Relics has agreed to play us something his guitar-"

_'When the Hell did I agree to that?'_

"-yesterday-"

'_Damn it!'_

"-and if I hear so much as a bad remark," Ms. Kensington said throwing Bill and Falco a glare, "I'll give you the longest wall sit of your life! And I'll kill you! Anytime you're ready Relics."

Relics nodded and put his guitar in the case much to the swan's surprise. "Oh I just have to set it up real quick." He assured and moved to his amplifier. Since human and Cornerian outlets were vastly different, Relics had to rely on battery cells to power his amplifier. They were about the size of D batteries but they were immeasurably better and it only took two to power the amp for an hour when it was placed at its maximum volume. Relics checked the battery level, it was at eighty percent and would do for now. Then he took the guitar back out and plugged it into amp.

"Okay, I'm still having a little hangover from last night so if I get up and leave it's so I can go throw up in the hallway." Relics said trying to be funny and sat on a stool in front of the class. No one laughed. All eyes were on him expectantly, waiting for him to begin. Relics felt like throwing up but not because of the hangover. "Okay, this is a little riff from a song called Hotel California by a band that lived over seven hundred years ago called the Eagles."

There was a chorus of quiet oohs and Relics thought he heard someone say something about human history. Relics ignored it and placed his shaking hand on the first key. The human kept his eyes glued to his guitar as he played as best he could the first fifty one seconds of Hotel California. He wasn't a guitar god but he was rather good from years of practice and didn't miss a single note. When he came to the part where he needed to sing however, he stopped suddenly and paused. He looked up nervously, half expecting a firing squad, what he found was a speechless, motionless classroom.

'_Going to throw up!'_ Relics thought and blushed fiendishly red from absolute embarrassment. No one seemed to move, most of them had their muzzles, beaks, and mouths hanging open. Not even getting slightly drunk with Lana was this bad, not even saying in front of the whole class he got Lana pregnant was this bad. The human felt like a thousand tiny butterflies with metal spikes were fluttering in his stomach, bowels and ass. His leg started to bob up and down anxiously then frantically as still, no one made a sound. Relics' eyes flashed to Bill who just stared at him in shock until finally.

"That was… awesome!" Bill finally said.

'_Just threw up a bit.' _Relics thought bitterly as he forced the bitter taste in his mouth back down. _'Wait what? Awesome!?'_

"I-I… th-thanks Bill." Relics stuttered.

"No man, thank _you_. I've never heard anything like that! It was like," Bill said and became lost to find the word. "I don't know, it felt like, like…" Bill said then punched the air.

"Quite right Billiam,-"

_'Lol!'_

"-Relics that was quite uplifting. Please, if you would could you play for us some more?" Ms. Kensington asked before the whole room erupted with cheers and cries for more.

"Alright! Alright!" Relics said trying to keep a goofy smile off his face from the tidal wave of relief. He much proffered this kind of attention; it wasn't because he was a human but because people liked his music. Well, it was his music to an extent, he only played it but it wasn't really made by him. Still, it felt good, being liked and looked at for something that he did and not because of what he was.

"This one is another riff from a song called Dream On, also by a band that lived over seven hundred years ago but this band is called Aerosmith." Relics said but paused. "Now how did that song go- oh yeah!" Relics said and then played the first thirty five seconds of Dream On. He stopped right before the singing part because singing made him feel uncomfortable, especially around Cornerians. Besides, this was their first time hearing a guitar and timeless human classics. Why should he spoil that by singing?

"Dude! Dude!" Bill said who seemed to be the only one other than Ms. Kensington to say anything. "More man! And turn it up!" Bill said nearly getting out of his chair.

Relics smiled. "Okay Bill, calm down! This one is a riff- yes?" Relics asked, calling on Tracy who was in the front row.

"Um, sorry. I was just wondering do any songs have lyrics?" The bright orange feline asked.

'_God damn it Tracy! You and Lana! I swear! How the fuck can you both be so smart? Just keep your ginger muzzle shut!'_

"Yeah they do, both of the riffs I played have more to them and lyrics." Relics admitted.

"Well," Tracy said burning red under her orange fur. "Could you maybe, I mean you don't have to of course, but… uh…"

"You want me to sing one?" Relics asked. _'Please say no, please say no, please say no!'_ Relics thought before Tracy nodded her head shaking her curly and bouncy hair. _'FFFFFFACK!'_

The human bit his lips and squirmed in his chair a bit before answering. "Well I could but-"

"DO IT!" Bill shouted causing Relics to jump.

"Okay Bill I'll- wait!" Relics said trying to retract himself. "I don't have a very good singing voice and I'd hate to ruin a song or-"

"We're not going to laugh Relics; Ms. Kensington will castrate, spay and or neuter any of us who even snicker. Even her favorite student." Bill said and pointed at himself with his left thumb.

"As if." Ms. Kensington giggled under her breath.

"Still I really-" Relics started but then saw that pleading look in Bill's eyes. _'Oh no! Not the puppy eyes! NOT THE PUPPY EYES!' _Relics thought before he sighed. "Alright Bill, _one_ song."

"FUCK YEAH!" Bill shouted. "Crank it up Relics." Bill said in a much calmer fashion after one look from the white swan sitting on her desk.

Relics moved his hand to the volume setting. It was already at five and he was sure Bill could hear it just fine, but as the old saying goes, music is best played loud. The dial flew to seven and Relics tested it out. He plucked a string and the human was sure it was audible through the walls in the other classrooms.

"Louder!" Falco said finally breaking the Bill and Ms. Kensington streak.

"Alright, if you want louder." Relics sighed going to ten, the maximum. The human turned back to the eagerly waiting classroom. No one spoke, moved or blinked; they just stared at him with hungry, waiting eyes and ears. "Okay, this is Coming Undone by a band called Korn, once again they lived over seven hundred years ago."

The human's heart reverberated in his skull. This was a new level of angst, one he had no equal, not even when he first finished playing and nobody moved compared. He rarely ever sang, and that was only with the music blaring so that if anyone did walk in on him singing he'd be drowned out by the music. His fingers slid across the strings to their positions, his pick waited atop the highest string and he swallowed hard to keep his throat from going dry. Relics considered refusing to sing, telling everyone some fake excuse but that wouldn't be the right impression. In fact Relics saw several people with their phones secretly hidden under their desks or incognito somewhere, all of which were recording him and would ultimately wind up on the internet somehow or another.

Finally he strummed the first note and sent the people in the front row to the back of their seats. Bill rose out of his chair and perked his ears towards the music and shouted like a crazed fan at a concert. Relics kept his eyes glued to his guitar as he played the opening with extreme focus so not to fuck up. Once the opening was done Relics reached the point he had to sing.

'_No going back now.'_ He thought and opened his voice.

"Keep holding on, while my brains ticking like a bomb, guess the black dots have come again to get me." Relics started off, still not daring to look up from his guitar. In an unbiased opinion, Relics' singing wasn't that bad, it was actually good only lacking effort because he was so nervous. As Relics quickly prepared for the next line he heard a rhythmic clapping that started off small but as he sang, the louder it got. "Sweet little words, unlike nothing I have heard, sing along mocking bird, you don't affect me."

By now the whole class had fallen in sink to the clapping Bill started which, as it was entirely unlikely, was the exact same tempo of the song's clapping beat. Out of the corner of his eye Relics saw everyone was out of their desks clapping in unison.

"That's right! Deliver it to my heart! Please strike! Be deliberate…" Relics sang and paused like in the song. He waited a little longer, letting his guitar's last strum ring out until it was nearly silent. Once Relics decided enough suspense had been established he slammed the next verse harshly causing the people in the front row to nearly fall back again.

"Wait! I'm coming undone. Unlaced! I'm coming undone. Too late! I'm coming undone. What looks so strong, so delicate." Relics sang and started to gain momentum. Everything began to melt away, his fear, his hatred, and his angst. Nothing mattered, just the guitar, the music and him singing to everybody.

"Wait! I'm starting to suffocate! And soon I anticipate! I'm coming undone. What looks so strong, so delicate." Relics said coming to another brief rest for his voice. By now Relics felt itchy but not to scratch, but to stand up and move. The human stood up as he started the next verse.

"Choke, choke again, I find my demons were my friends. Getting me in the end, they're out to get me. Since I was young, I tasted sorrow on my tongue, and this sweet sugar gun does not protect me."

In all the excitement, Relics failed to notice the piercing volume of his music and singing had passed on to the other classrooms nearby. Curious and interested, the classes around Ms. Kensington's classroom came to see what the cause of the strange sounds and music was. The door to the classroom opened and four classrooms of students and teachers stood staring and watching.

"That's right! Trigger between my eyes. Please strike! Make it quick now…. Wait! I'm coming undone. Unlaced! I'm coming undone. Too late! I'm coming undone. What looks so strong, so delicate. Wait! I'm starting to suffocate! And soon I anticipate! I'm coming undone. What looks so strong, so delicate." Relics sang near the top of his voice but still kept a good voice and rhythm. His subconscious was resisting the urge to head bang, but barely, he needed to have a clear head to play and sing at the same time.

"I'm! Trying to hold it together! Head is lighter than a feather! Looks like I'm not getting better! Not getting better!" Relics sang and paused a little longer than the song's pause was. "Wait! I'm coming undone. Unlaced! I'm coming undone. Too late! I'm coming undone. What looks so strong, so delicate. Wait! I'm starting to suffocate! And soon I anticipate! I'm coming undone. What looks so strong, so delicate…"

As Relics played the end of the song his subconscious lost the battle it had been fighting and he did a head bang for every one of the final notes.

Relics paused and waited for a response from the class but they were temporarily out of order. Relics then felt like throwing up so his eyes darted to the doorway and to his horror found the hallway flooded with people.

'_No escape, going to die, going to puke, where's my cyanide pill!?'_ Relics thought to himself before the class erupted in applause. Every red blood cell flocked to the human's face and made him glow with a red aura. Relics let go of his guitar and waved nervously.

"Uh, thank you." Relics said as people got out of their seats for a standing applause. _'Sit down, please sit down.' _Relics begged in his head while keeping a somewhat calm smile. He only wanted to put his guitar away, sit down, and go home at the end of the day.

Around five minutes later the class and hallway quieted down, allowing Ms. Kensington to retake control.

"Thank you very much Relics. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, I've never heard anything so amazing in my life." Ms. Kensington said closing the door on everybody outside so they'd go away.

"Fuck yeah you do!" Bill and several other people Relics didn't know said.

"Well… I'm glad you all enjoyed." Relics said and waved to the people outside, peaking through the door's window.

"Well, I guess we should get onto the lesson at hand." Ms. Kensington sighed as Relics started putting his guitar away. "Feel free to bring it in anytime Relics." Ms. Kensington said getting close to Relics and whispered into his ear so that the rest of the class couldn't hear. "_Any_ time."

Once again blood rushed to the human's face. "Okay." He said and quickly put everything back and nearly jogged to his desk so he could quickly hide back behind his desk.

"_Any_ time." Ms. Kensington said in his head over and over, the warm breath from her beak breezing over his neck.

'_Oh God, not again! Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts!'_ Relics moaned in his head as his pants tightened.

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Okay I'm not going to lie to you guys, I know absolutely nothing about a guitar other than where to strum it. I used to have one but that was a **__**long**__** time ago and even then I taught myself. I doubt I can still play anything anymore. Anyways I hope you enjoyed. I chose Coming Undone (by KoRn) because you don't need too much to play it, no drums or bass, just a guitar and singer. Plus the song kind of fits into place and how Relics hated Cornerians and now he's starting to tolerate and even like them (at least that's how I see it, his hatred and former self is coming undone). I had **__**seriously**__** considered Gets Me Through by Ozzy but I felt that the Oz man deserved to have his songs played to the fullest, even in a fan fiction. **_


	13. I Hate Everything

'_Don't look at his eyes, don't look at his eyes, don't look at his eyes, don't-'_ Relics thought to himself desperately before all his resistance was shattered by the brown puppy dog eyes Bill was throwing him.

"No, Bill! I left it in Ms. Kensington's room for a reason!" Relics groaned and picked up his cheeseburger.

"Oh come on! Please Relics? You've given me something that no one else has ever given me, and I need more." Bill pleaded.

'_I'm not going to even begin to comment on how homosexual that just sounded.'_ Relics thought, but unfortunately, Falco had other ideas.

The blue falcon gasped, covered his beak with his hands and said. "Relics! How dare you cheat on Lana! Especially with someone like Bill."

Relics' eyes floated into the back of his skull. If there was one person Relics would strangle on this planet, it would be either Bill or Falco. At the moment the urge to kill Bill and the urge to kill Falco was rising. Ever since they got out of class Bill had asked, pleaded, and begged Relics to go back for his guitar and play a little bit during lunch. Not only did Relics want to avoid a repeat of his last demonstration where everybody watched him while he made a jackass out of himself, but Ms. Kensington wasn't teaching a class at the moment and he did not want to be alone with her. Something about her sent shivers down his body and sin through his mind, not to mention a tightening in his pants.

'_I'm such a disgrace.'_ Relics thought as a vision of Ms. Kensington naked flashed through his mind for a spark of an instant.

"And to think she trusted you to be faithful, yet you go around shagging guys like Bill-"

"Falco, shut up!" Relics and someone else said as he sat down at the table. The human quickly studied the orange vulpine before remembering who he was. "Oh, hey… Fox?" Relics said hoping he got the name right.

"Hello Relics." The vulpine said staring back at the human.

It was a strange and awkward moment. Something seemed to click between the two, a peculiar, link if you will, started at that moment, but whether it was a good link or a bad one had yet to be seen.

"Well look who got here on time." Falco chided Fox. "Maybe next time you won't be up fucking Miyu all night and make it to school on time."

"Shut up Falco." Fox growled and turned his attention to his lunch.

"Don't be jealous that he has a girlfriend, Falco." Slippy said, who had already finished his smorgasbord of food. "Scratch that; don't be jealous that he can _get_ a girlfriend."

"Oh bite me pond-scum! I can totally get a girlfriend whenever I want." Falco retorted.

Slippy gave the falcon a sly look. "Really? Like when you got that girl's phone number yesterday-"

"Hey that was a fluke! I can't help it if she's a skinner lover-"

The entire table went silent and Falco stopped talking midsentence. All eyes turned to Relic's who was boring into the back of Falco's head with his own eyes. Falco began to sweat and little beads fell from his feathers as the awkward silence continued. After awhile, Falco cleared his dry throat, turned to the enraged human and said.

"Relics I-" He managed to say before Relics stopped him by upping his dirty look.

"Falco. What did you call me?" Relics asked, his throat dry and coarse, just adding to Falco's and the table's nervous tension.

"I-I-It… it just slipped." Falco stammered. "I didn't mean anything by it! You people-"

Once again Falco stopped because of the severity of Relics' stern gaze. "What do you mean… you people?" Relics finished with a smile on his face and began to laugh uncontrollably. Falco was at a loss for words as he watched the laughing human. For a second he thought he was dead but when Relics patted Falco on the shoulder he knew he wasn't, yet.

"Oh my God! You should have seen the look on your face! I think I'm going to piss my pants!" Relics wheezed and fell off his chair to the floor. Fortunately though, the sudden impact with the floor pulled his head out of his ass and he calmed down.

"Wait, you're not mad?" Falco asked worriedly.

"Mad? Mad at what? For calling me a skinner? Nah, my people got over racism a long time ago. It took awhile I admit, but I really don't care if you go on spurting your ignorance." Relics said with a shrug just before the bell rang, signaling lunch was over and fourth period had begun. Moving quickly, Relics finished off the remains of his moderate lunch, of which he couldn't find too many flaws with, and threw the disposable plate in the trash.

"Well, either way I'm sorry." Falco said following the human with Slippy in tow.

"He's just that way; indecent, raunchy, and racist." Slippy said and slapped the avian on the back, prompting another bickering and slapping war between the two.

"So Foxy, where you off to now?" Bill asked tailing up behind and bypassing the two idiots nearly wrestling now.

"…P.E. with Mr. Leeuwarden. Is he still as-"

"Mean, old, and full of hate?" Bill finished to which Fox nodded in response. "Yep, but good news is he and Relics are chummy. He didn't swear at Relics once, as far as I could tell. He swore at me like I'd just banged his daughter and his wife though the latter of which I can say I haven't yet."

'_I hate P.E.'_

~X~X~X~X~

Lana's red eyes closed and rolled up into her skull. If one more, giddy, curious, over-hyper, girl asked her what it was like going on a date with a human, Lana would scratch the little bitch's eyes out. Ever since she got to school she had been intercepted by one, two, or sometimes even groups of girls asking her all about the date, making her late for every class today. Some were even ballsy enough to ask if they had sex that night. Despite her firm denial, they still asked her what was he like without clothes, and how big his _muscles_ were.

Thankfully, first lunch had ended and second lunch was only a half an hour away. She'd skip lunch today since she felt a little nauseous and wanted to avoid more questions about her and Relics' relationship, and his member. So she'd try to find solace in the school library and catch up on her schoolwork studies. Even though it was only day two of school, Lana wanted to get a head start so she could keep her A average she managed to acquire last year. Before she went out with Wolf she was an average student, but after the break up, she found that she could find peace of mind in running, studying, and friends. She'd talk to her friends at lunch but after last night, there was no way they'd let Relics fall off the day's subject.

Despite her recent spike in popularity and attention, there were others in the school that looked down upon her for what she did last night. She caught their glares, their harsh comments, and idle threats as she walked through the halls. The minx regretted being so naïve by asking Relics to a date the first day. Her mind and her emotions convinced her to do so, and now she was going to have to pay for it. It was no big secret that a lot of people in the Lylat considered her some attention seeking whore for "digging her claws into the human" the first chance she got. The minute she turned on the news, she saw all the turmoil and drama she and Relics had made on most every channel.

'_Maybe I should end it with Relics? It would be for the best, he doesn't need to be even more ostracized just because of me.'_ Lana thought to herself as she sat in the back of class because it was less likely she'd be noticed. _'What was I thinking in the first place? I only wanted him because he kicked Wolf in the head… and he was nice, he couldn't have been anymore polite, he talked and listened to me with every fiber of his attention unlike Wolf, he's funny, and in that tuxedo I have to admit, he was handsome.'_

The minx sighed and laid her head down dreamily.

'_And I can't forget his eyes. They were just like shadowed silver._ _Why couldn't he have been a Cornerian? Then there wouldn't be all this drama. But all this drama is my fault anyway. I can't believe myself! What have I done? I should never have let them talk me into it, no matter how much I wanted to go out with him.'_ She thought to herself with her head resting on her desk.

The lynx began to slowly fall asleep; the few hours she managed to rest that night weren't enough to keep her awake the entire day. As she fell into a peaceful nap, she began to dream of Relics, what it would be like without the drama and if he were a Cornerian.

In her mind's eyes she saw him as a handsome arctic fox with a shiny silvery coat, a tail so bushy she could hide her hands in it, and his ears would be black at the tips.

Yet despite how nice it was imagining him as a dreamy vulpine, her mind reverted back to him being a human which she rather liked.

~X~X~X~X~

"Damn it Relics! Stay still!" Falco shouted as he threw yet another football shaped rubber ball at the human. Relics quickly ducked out of the ball's flight path before it even got halfway to him, thanks to his keen sight he used to keep from being pelted, but he was careful to keep from letting himself overexert his eyes and go temporarily blind because of it. Never had he played a game of dodge ball where so many people wanted to rip his head off by throwing a ball at it. Only the girls seemed to give him slack, however little. Some of them would see him wide open to an attack and move on, others just flat out tried to decapitate him.

The Cornerians had several games, but the most likely game that shared any resemblance with a human game was the Cornerian equivalent of dodge ball. Cornerian dodge ball was played a little differently though. For starters, the balls were all like American footballs, catching the ball didn't result in the thrower's elimination, but he was playing it safe and hadn't picked up a ball the entire game so it didn't matter. But as luck would have it, he was about to have to make a stand.

"Fuck!" Bill growled as he got hit in the side after trying to pick up a ball. "Good luck Rel- WHAT THE_ FUCK_!?" Bill shouted when he got hit again, this time in the muzzle.

"Sorry Bill, it just slipped." Steven said almost sarcastically.

"Yeah I'll slip it into your sister after this is done." Bill said and left the court, leaving Relics the only person left on his team.

'_Fuck me, oh fuck me!'_ Relics mournfully thought as Falco, Steven, and seven other Cornerians on the other team plotted his demise.

"You three aim for his head, Steven, you get his legs, you four aim at his chest, and I'll get him right in the crotch." Falco said a little louder than he should to keep it secret, but he didn't want to keep it secret. The best part of dodge ball was bearing down on the enemy, watching him/her squirm all the while.

Relics started strafing left and right like a cornered animal. He had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide from the soon to come onslaught. All he could do was rely on his keen eyes and hope he didn't get hit in the balls or the face.

On Falco's cue the attack began, the first volley was at his face which was easy to dodge since his attackers were bad at throwing at even a still target. The next wave of enemy fire was harder to dodge and Relics had to dive out of the way prompting cheers and laughter from his team and the other team.

"Damn it. You four, hit him in the legs!" Falco squawked as Relics scrambled to his feet trying not to trip over the ten dodge balls at his feet.

"You're being a bitch, Relics! Quit a being a bitch!" Bill shouted from the sidelines.

"Pick up a ball Relics! Use it to block their balls!" Fox shouted from his team's out wall through the rest of the team cheering him on. The entire team was shouting for Relics to kick ass but Fox and Bill were the only one he really listened to.

'_I'm not a bitch… I'm _not_ a bitch!'_

Begrudgingly, the human bent over and picked up one of the balls from the masses around him. Before he had a chance to get in a throwing stance, Falco's final barrage had begun.

"FUCK!" Relics shouted before he got nailed by all five football shaped balls, save for Falco's ball which would have hit its mark like Falco planned, had the ball Relics just picked up not been there shielding him.

"That's game, now go get changed you." Mr. Leeuwarden growled from his chair in the bleachers on the sidelines.

'_I hate this planet.'_

~X~X~X~X~

"Cheer up Relics, bruises aren't permanent." Falco sniggered.

'_No they aren't. But when I rip your beak off, _that,_ will be permanent.'_ Relics growled in his mind while keeping a passive, straight face while changing back into his normal clothes.

"You're just lucky Fox wasn't there, he'd have kicked all your asses." Bill said patting the sweaty orange vulpine on his bare back.

"Yeah right. Even if Mr. Leeuwarden hadn't given him twenty laps for not showing up for the first day, my team would still have raped your team Bill." Falco scoffed.

"Hey, next time Relics and I are going to go balls deep!"

'_Don't throw up!'_ Relics thought when he got a mental image of what Bill just said.

"I'm sure you will." Falco laughed.

For a moment, Bill wondered why Falco and a lot of other people were laughing. Than his grammar, and the rusty gears in his head turned until finally he understood why everyone was laughing save him and Relics.

"That's not what I meant!" Bill began to argue.

'_I hate you guys.'_

~X~X~X~X~

The human sat down in fourth period, in his desk from yesterday. So far, no one was sitting anywhere near him, especially Peter, the black cat from yesterday. Peter was sitting as close as he could to the door and as far away from the human as he could all at once. Relics didn't mind the feline's discomfort; he brought it onto himself after all. Throwing things at people in class was so elementary.

"Hi Relics." Another feline said as she sat down next to the human. She had ginger fur, grey blue eyes, and a thorn that she poked into Relics' side every now and then.

"Hi Tracy." Relics replied making eye contact and keeping his tone light and happy so not appear to be rude.

"How's your day going so far?" Tracy asked casually as she sat down at the desk next to Relics'.

Relics nodded before saying. "Pretty good, not bad."

"I heard you got nailed in dodge ball." Tracy said, her tail giving a small flick out of the hole in the back of her chair.

"Word travels fast here huh?" Relics responded.

The feline nodded. "Yes it does… listen; I just wanted to thank you again for playing your instrument and singing for us in second period today. And I'd also like to thank you for not killing my stupid friend."

Relics looked at the black feline who was looking at him, but the second he saw Relics' icy grey eyes flash to him Peter looked away. "Yeah well, you're welcome, and you can tell Peter that as long as he doesn't throw anymore things at me, I forgive him."

Tracy smiled warmly and Relics could hear her begin to purr. "Thank you Relics. Do you mind if I leave and go tell him?"

Relics shrugged. "Go for it." He said before Tracy got up and padded over to Peter.

The human watched the two felines for a moment. Peter sighed and looked exceptionally relieved that he had been forgiven. Relics thought he saw a small glimmer in the orange cat's eye but if it existed, it disappeared when the bell rang, signaling class had begun. It then occurred to Relics that the front board was riddled with problems of the day and every one of them made him want to shoot the person who thought it was a great idea to add letters to math equations.

'_I hate Math.'_

~X~X~X~X~

"Hey Relics!" Someone said from behind the human making him jump.

"Fara! Don't do that to me." Relics gasped as he held the door open for the stealthy vixen. The vixen just grinned slyly as she pranced into the classroom.

"So Relics, how ya been?" She asked as she sat down, once again in the front row, and once again had Relics sit by her.

"Alright. You?" The human asked as he set his backpack down by his desk and sat down by the perky vixen. She seemed really energetic for some reason. Maybe she was just always this way, or maybe something happened. Relics had no idea, she was a woman, and Cornerian or not, all women were mysteries to him. He'd sooner unravel the mystery of life than the mystery of the blandest woman.

"Good, very good, borderline outstanding!" Fara said happily. When she didn't go into details why, Relics became curious enough to ask.

"Why's that?"

Fara looked at Relics, opened her muzzle but stopped. She couldn't tell Relics about the small interrogation she gave Fox in her last class, and she certainly couldn't tell Relics what she learned from Fox. But what Fara found out gave her enough firepower to bust Fay's chops for a whole month.

"I'm sorry; I can't tell you just yet."

'_Aha ha, ha! You got me… ya troll!'_ Relics thought to himself. One of his pet peeves was someone dangling a secret over his head. When he heard of the secret he had too know! Anyone who pulled that move, he considered a troll. He could just imagine the wrinkled face smiling at him, oh it taunted him so!

"I'm sorry Relics; I'll tell you once I've gotten permission." Fara reassured when she saw the flicker of disappointment in his icy grey eyes.

Before Relics could respond, the fifth period bell rang.

'_I hate that bell.'_

~X~X~X~X~

"You know Relics; I think that with you in class, Mrs. Crabtree won't give us any boring history lessons." Fara said aloud as they walked down the halls. It was hard to pay attention to Fara because with her at her side, the pretty, perky, energetic vixen, a lot more people plucked up the courage to say hi as they passed by. The human was starting to feel like a kid with a disorder or horrible body altering affliction because of it. As sad as that was, it was an improvement over being an ostracized alien whom everyone feared no matter how slightly. Everyone is always nice to the most unfortunate of people, at least for the first week or two.

"Well Relics, I hate to do this too you but I don't have sixth period this semester." Fara sighed. "You know the way right?"

"Yeah." Relics replied as he nodded. To be honest, he would have liked being walked to sixth period so he wouldn't be late again, but he couldn't ask her to be late as well.

"But hey, survive Captain Fritz and I promise I won't kill you too hard." Fara said with a wink leaving Relics in complete loss for words.

With that lingering threat hanging in the air, Relics proceeded towards sixth period, a little faster than he usually walked. As confident he was in his abilities to survive the Fun Zone again, he really, _really_, didn't want to try it again with the extra added traps. The human made it to the Auxiliary building where the Auxiliary class was held and he saw that there were still people walking into the building behind him. This implied he could slow down and relax a little.

'_Here we go again, sixth period with Captain Fritz. I swear, if he calls me snowflake again, I'll be like, hey what's up and- POW! Right in the kisser… POW! Right in the kisser. That's right! You didn't see that coming did you? You fur ball! Oh wait, here, let me help you- BAM! Oh no! I didn't mean to hit you again, oh no, and right in your eye! Here let me- BAM!'_

During one of his random, and quite lewd mental ramblings, Relics failed to notice he was going exceedingly slow. So slow in fact, that he had only a few seconds to get to class. Another person far behind him realized this and bolted towards the double doors to the classroom. As he ran he felt his backpack feel a little lighter than it should and he checked his backpack to see if it was open, and that completely threw Relics out of his line of sight.

"Why me?" Relics sighed in a tone that hinted he expected something like that to happen.

"Oh crap, sorry dude." Someone said as he got off the steamrolled human. "Oh shit! I killed the human!" The person said realizing who he flattened all over the floor.

"You didn't kill me-" Relics said getting off the ground just as the bell rang. "But Captain Fritz is gonna."

"Fox," a voice said causing both the human and vulpine to jump, "if you're done making out with your boyfriend, line up."

"Sir yes sir." Fox said and jutted his head for Relics to follow him.

The human followed close and avoided the stern gaze of the leopard as they passed him and stepped into class. When the duo walked passed them they found the entire class was in formation holding firearms. Relics froze in place, his eyes widened, and he drew in shallow breaths. The human turned around to leave but the door shut close behind the suspicious leopard.

"Is there something wrong, Snowflake?" Captain Fritz asked.

"S-Sir I… I think I forgot something in my last class, sir." Relics lied. The human would go to any lengths to get his pale ass out of the room full of Cornerians with guns.

"Then you can pick it up after school, now fall in line at a one arm interval next to Hollywood." Fritz growled referring to Fox.

'_Just think happy thoughts, happy, happy thoughts!'_ Relics thought as he staved off flashbacks. He never showed the damage that was done to him the day his home world was invaded because he had repressed it as deeply as something could go in a person's mind. For months he went through therapy and was offered medication to forget, but he turned it down. He wanted to remember as he felt it would be disrespectful to his father. The repression and therapy had worked well, and he was able to sleep through the night without god awful nightmares haunting him in his most personally vulnerable state. Only now, with Cornerians watching him and guns in their hands did the bandaged scabs of his mental lacerations break open.

Several people noticed his anxiety; it was so clear and evident in his facial and body language that he might as well be shouting, "I am becoming unstable, run for your lives." Fox was the only one to say anything.

"Relics? Are you alright?"

"He's fine, now keep your damn muzzle shut or you'll be scrubbing the paintball range when this is over, by yourself, top to bottom."

'_Wait a second!' _Relics thought to himself and looked at the nervous caracal to his left. The feline was holding a simple looking paintball gun! Immediately, the human felt relief and his suppressive mind forced the dark thoughts back down into the innards of his subconscious. But the flashbacks still lingered. He would never forget the horrible things he saw that day, no matter how hard he suppressed it. The flashback was a wake up call, and he was once again thinking over his relationships with every Cornerian he had met thus far, especially Lana.

'_Bill, Falco, Slippy… and I guess Fox are alright. Fara is funny and the most tolerable one, I can still be friends with all them I guess. Miyu, well I hope we can be friends, I'd hate to be that bitch's enemy. Jason, well, I can't get rid of him now can I? But Lana… what would dad think if he were still here? He'd probably flip a bitch knowing I'm technically dating a Cornerian. Maybe we took it too fast? I do like her but… a human dating a Cornerian? No, that still seems wrong. I… I have to break it off with her… but still be her friend.'_ Relics thought coming to the sad conclusion. He really did like Lana, but too much, too young, too fast was not healthy.

"Since we have two love birds who'd rather be in the hallways making out, than in class. We're only going to have two teams today. Hollywood and Snowflake step forward." Captain Fritz hissed. Begrudgingly, Relics stepped forward with Fox. "You two are team one." The Captain said handing Relics and Fox two paintball guns with significantly smaller ammo cartridges. "Everyone else is team two."

_'FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUUUCK!' _Relics screamed at the top of his lungs in his mind.

"Maybe next time you'll listen to me and actually get here on time." Fritz said to the two man team. "Get moving, you only have a minute's head start.

Relics and Fox looked at each other and then ran as fast as they could to the paintball court. The vulpine was a little faster than the human but Relics managed to keep pace a few feet behind him. They didn't stop until they were a fifty yards into the hundred by a hundred yard course. They took cover inside a simulated building that was shelled to pieces and caught their breath.

"So uh… you got a plan?" Relics asked as he peaked out through the large open hole in the wall.

"No." Fox panted. "But if we keep moving and keep from getting pinned down, we'll last longer. What about you, you got any ideas?"

"Yeah, stop making out with you in the hallways before class." Relics said causing the vulpine to laugh. "God damn he's an ass."

"He was worse last year, but a lot of parents complained so he had to tone it down. The only reason he didn't lose his job is because he's a war vet." Fox said and lifted his paintball gun. "They're coming."

"How do you- JESUS CHRIST!" Relics shouted when nearly a dozen paintballs exploded off the wall he took refuge behind.

"You only got twelve shots, make them count!" Fox shouted as he flattened himself against the wall on the other side of the massive hole in the wall.

"How many do they have?" Relics asked.

"Well they have canisters and those can hold a hundred a piece." Fox replied.

Relics groaned before poking his head out just barely. The entirety of team two (or so it seemed), were all out in the simulated city street. They were taking cover behind prop cars, in foxholes, and behind sandbag walls.

"So much for trying to keep from getting pinned down." Fox growled as the enemy team surrounded their position.

The human pulled his head back and avoided getting shot in the eye. "We're pretty SOL right about now." Relics said under his breath.

The suppressive fire lasted only a few seconds before it started to wane. There came a brief second where Fox wasn't under fire and he popped out of his cover, shot twice and Relics heard two swears.

"How many you get?" Relics asked.

"Just one… Falco, twice." Fox said. The human and the vulpine stared at each other before they started laughing, as much danger as they were in, they both couldn't help but laugh at the falcon.

"That's awesome, wish I coulda- GET DOWN!" Relics shouted at the vulpine which Fox actually listened and obeyed allowing for Relics to shoot three shots off at the door behind Fox where they were getting flanked from.

"Hit! Hit! HIT! I'M HIT! STOP SHOOTING ME!" Bill shouted as his body flailed around from getting hit by the painful little paintballs.

"Sorry Bill." Relics said to the fuming canine, who walked off with his gun in the air. "Sorry I didn't get you in the face." Relics said under his breath.

"Thanks." Fox said getting back up before clipping off another shot and got another hit.

"No problem. He was going to shoot me first anyway." Relics said as paint flew everywhere.

"You know, I bet someone's going to try it again." Fox said and walked over to the door and closed it. He got on the side where the door didn't swing to and waited. "Keep your head down and I'll take care of them."

Relics nodded and lowered himself behind what looked like the remains of a wardrobe.

"Sound plan but what if- wow… here comes three more." He said when he saw three Cornerians outside leave the safety of their small sandbag bunker and ran towards the side of the house.

Relics was about to pick them off while they ran through the open but then heavy suppressive fire prompted him to duck down. The door opened slowly this time but Fox threw it open and the vulpine hosed the three insurgents down.

"Fucking A!" Steven groaned before Fox snatched the trio's paintball guns away. "Hey! Give that-" Steven began but stopped when Fox pointed his paintball gun at Steven's groin. "See ya later, Fox." The swine said and hurried off with the iguana and the wolf that had come with him.

Once they were gone, Fox closed the door and braced it with a charred desk. The vulpine then reassumed his position on the opposite side of the hole and attached one of the canisters to his gun.

"He is such a stupid pig. He was already down half a clip!" Fox said and threw Relics a canister when he was finished. The flash of movement created a panic outside and the suppressive fire, which had waned prior to Fox's throw, redoubled.

"At least there is only like, fifteen of them left." Relics said and refilled his empty gun.

"Yeah, but we haven't seen Miyu… we should be scared."

"I _am_ scared. Your girlfriend is quite the, what my people call, a scorned woman. And Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Er- no offense." Relics said hoping he wasn't overestimating his bounds.

"Yeah well, once she warms up to you, you couldn't ask for a better friend. Just be nice to Lana and she won't use your intestinal tract as a condom while she fornicates with your skull." Fox replied with a serious face.

"…What?"

"So she doesn't skull fuck you." Fox laughed and returned the suppressive fire.

'…_What?'_

"That's two more down." Fox chuckled. "Damn this is easy."

"How are you so good anyways?" Relics asked the vulpine while they waited for everyone outside to calm down and stop being so trigger happy.

"My dad is a mercenary. I've been shooting my whole life. He even taught me how to fly." Fox explained rather casually even for getting shot at. Relics gave the vulpine a peculiar look. "You're not too bad either. Where'd you learn to shoot?"

Relics' look turned dark and he looked away from Fox. "From my father too." The human grunted before leaning out from the cover and shot someone twice but missed three times.

"Oh." Fox replied and dropped the conversation because of what he had heard happened to Relics' father.

Suddenly there came a sudden stop to all the shooting, Fox said. "You know, I still haven't seen Miyu- AHH!" Fox shouted in pain at the top of his lungs.

Relics looked behind himself before he saw nothing but red. The human dropped his gun and fell over clutching himself in pain. A smug lynx padded up to the two fallen teammates with two paintball guns in her hands.

"Falco says hi." She said to the human with a teasing wink.

'_I hate Falco.'_

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Hey guys, first off I want to say that I gave Fox the nickname Hollywood because I got lazy and didn't want to go through a long explanation of how a made up Cornerian city is the equivalent of Hollywood, and to avoid confusion. So Hollywood it is and it stays, so long as he is around Captain Fritz, just like Snowflake is Relics.**_


	14. Dinner With the Mahoney Family

Relics limped out of the school, his guitar in tow, and his ego in shatters. To him, there was no way of explaining his level of fail. Not only did he get his ass handed to him by a girl, but a girl who plugged him with ten rounds of paintballs before he even knew she was there. She went easy on him though, Fox got fifteen. Miyu apologized, to an extent. She blamed her overzealous overkill on the adrenaline rush and the heat of battle. But when everyone else was looking away, the lynx got right up to Relics' ear and said.

_"If you think that's bad, just go ahead and hurt Lana, make my day."_

"Hey, Relics- you look awful!" Fara said when she came from nowhere and shocked the poor, gimping, paint covered human.

"Thanks Lana- I mean Fara." Relics said correcting himself.

"Lana? Why did you call me Lana?" The devious vixen asked as her tail swished around, accidently batting a poor freshman in the face.

"I was just thinking about her is all." Relics sighed. "I didn't see her all day. I hope she's alright."

Relics wasn't watching her, but Fara made a face that was the definition of cute. "Aw! You're worried about her?" She asked in a very sweet tone.

'_Yeah, cause if she gets hurt then Miyu will kill me.'_ Relics thought to himself when he knew he was genuinely worried about the missing minx.

"Do you want me to call her?" Fara asked as they walked down the fifteen stairs.

"Would you?" Relics asked relieved he wouldn't have to and appear to be some weird, creepy stalker guy.

"Sure, I need to get my bra from her house anyways… it's not what you think." Fara added when Relics gave her a confused and wide eyed look. "We were wrestling, one thing led to the other and then clothes started falling off… hmm, that didn't word it any better did it?"

"No." Relics said and tried not to think of Lana and Fara lying on top of one another, their sweat melding as their furry bodies pressed against the other with only the other's body to cover their indecency. "So what did you have for sixth period?" Relics asked just before fantasy Lana and Fara moved in for a kiss.

"Oh," Fara said extremely agitatedly, "nothing! I signed up for the stupidest class ever! I mean, mythology? What the Hell kind of job will that prepare me for down the road?"

"You got me." Relics replied as Jason's car came into view. The German Sheppard was dressed in his normal Service-A's, and he was leaned up against the car all suave like. Relics wondered why for a moment, but then he saw all the looks he was getting from the high school girls, and they were all very interested in what they saw.

"That's what I like about high school girls, I keep gettin' older, they stay the same age, yes they do." Jason said in such a creeper southern fashion, it causing Fara to breakout into tears of laughter.

"Oh my fucking God!" Fara managed to say before falling prey to uncontrollable giggling. "You said that so perfect! Like you were a creeper or something. You're such a good actor Jason."

"Uh yeah, acting." Jason said and opened the door for Relics, who had his hands busy lugging the guitar case and amp around. "So Relics how was school?"

"Amazing!" Fara said before the human could answer. "He brought that into class and he played some of the best music I ever heard."

"Well I don't know about the best, I'm not that great." Relics said and began to blush.

"Yes you are Relics!" Fara argued. "I've never heard anything like what you played; it was so new, so fresh. Don't get me wrong, I still love my kinds of music but they sometimes blend in together. Your music though, I doubt I could find anything like that in the galaxy."

Jason looked to the red glistening human. "Sounds like you'll have to show me sometime."

"Sure. Hi." Relics said to the random Cornerian who said hi to him as she walked by.

'_That makes forty seven girls, and twelve guys.'_ Relics thought as he added another tally to the number of girls who randomly said hi to him before scampering off.

"Well it was fun guys, but I got to get home." Fara sighed contently.

"You sure? We could give you a ride." Jason asked.

Fara smiled and shook her head. "No, no. I'll be fine. I live just six blocks that way." Fara said pointing south towards the yuppie side of the suburbs. "Bye, Jason! See ya tomorrow, Relics!"

"You know, if things don't work out between you and Lana, there are always other options." Jason said as the two of them watched Fara walk off.

'_Don't start now, please!'_ Relics thought trying not to turn red.

As Relics got into the car, Jason kept talking. "Great thing about them vixens though, is they get really into it. If you get one in the sack, prepare for your world to be rocked! And your teacher, woo! A foot and a back rub latter, and those birds will let you stick it in the- HOLY SHIT!" Jason shouted when Relics strummed the guitar after turning the amp on and all the way up. The note rang loud and clear until Relics turned the amp back off. Jason gasped for breath a few times before saying. "You could have just said stop!"

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have." Relics sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You never do."

~X~X~X~X~

Relics sighed as he drifted through the hundreds of channels of Cornerian programming. Nothing looked interesting, and even if he did find something, a small itch in the back of his head ruined it and he resumed his search. He kept searching until he heard his nickname Relics, and stopped. The show he stopped on was a TV talk show with an older grey vixen, a young looking feline female, a young she-wolf, and a middle aged rabbit.

"I'm personally surprised the human, Relics, has made it this long as he has. The only one of his kind for light-years amidst an uncountable mass of aliens, that takes guts to sign up for that." The she-wolf said.

"Okay Denise, I admit he's got guts, but I still don't think that qualifies him as a nine." The feline replied. "A six at the least, but a seven is what I'd give him. As cute as he looks, he is a little too… exotic for my tastes."

'_The Hell are they talking about'_ Relics wondered to himself and turned up the volume after finding the right button.

"A seven? I'd say a seven at the very least!" The she-wolf argued said making her way back to the head of the conversation. "You must not have seen this picture, Claire." The hawk said and used a remote control to make a large picture appear of Relics without a shirt in his house on a massive whiteboard behind the four ladies. If Relics had any sort of beverage in his mouth, he'd have spit it out all over himself, the coffee table, and the TV. Instead his jaw dropped as he gapped at the picture of him without a shirt and stretching. He didn't have a complete six pack but if he kept up his workout he had made in an effort to keep fit on Corneria, he'd have one shortly.

To make Relics' inner mind-fuck worse, the crowd, which sounded all female, made ooh, hooting, and whistling sounds at the sight of the yawning and groggy barely legal teen.

'_Well at least I know what they're talking about with those numbers. Their rating how attractive-'_

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Relics actually shouted when the picture of him disappeared and a little graph labeled "Doable," and the key started at one reading "Fugly," then five reading "Fine," and then ending at ten reading with a blacked out word "- me now." The women's names were all on the table and their respective scores they picked.

Relics held his head in his hands as he shook it. Then the attention was focused on the old grey rabbit.

"Claire, Denise, Samantha, you've all given us a few reasons why he's doable, but good looks, guts, and being exotic means nothing if he isn't good in the sack." The rabbit said as the screen cleared and then showed a clip of Relics playing Hotel California.

'_Great, they did video tape me. Bastards.'_

"If a man is as good as he is with his fingers," The rabit said, dropping her experienced knowledge on the younger women as Relics hit the more complex part of the song, "then he's bound to be able to get you to-"

Relics didn't stick around to find out what he was allegedly able to do. He quickly shut off the TV and let the emotional and mental trauma slowly disperse. Never, in his entire lifetime, did he ever dream of being discussed over how doable he was on national, if not system wide TV. As flattering as it was, it was shocking. He was an alien yet those women were talking about jumping his bones like he wasn't. Maybe what Bill said was true, and that a relationship with a Cornerian wouldn't be so bad. Back home it most certainly would be, but since he was here, no one back home would know.

As Relics mulled over the possibility of dating Lana or maybe even Fara, when the front door opened and Relics stood up to go greet Jason.

"You ready?" Jason asked and looked Relics over. "Nice jacket."

"Thanks." Relics replied. He was dressed somewhat formally, but not in a tuxedo like the night before. He wore a clean red long sleeved shirt, a black over-jacket, and black slacks. "Yes I'm ready."

"Great. Chloe is ecstatic and can't wait to meet you. But hey, don't go making a move on my wife bud." Jason said smugly.

"Oh come now Jason, there's always room for a bit of competition." Relics replied but didn't smile when he saw how serious faced Jason had become. "Okay, I promise I won't." He said and Jason nodded.

'_But if she comes on to me…'_

~X~X~X~X~

"You live here!?" Relics nearly shouted as Jason pulled the car into the driveway.

"Yeah? Why? Where you expecting something else?" Jason asked as Relics gawked at the rather extravagant looking home. The house itself was at least three stories not including a possible basement, the windows were all tall and regal looking, the materials used looked like fine wood and brick, and the gardens around the house were impressive even to Relics who didn't have much of an eye for Cornerian vegetation.

'_Yeah, a trailer, an outhouse, and a broken down car on the lawn… ooh, even I think that was mean.'_ Relics thought to himself as he and Jason got out of the car.

"Well not something like this." Relics said to quickly cover his ass. "This is a _really_ nice house that I'd expect your upper class would live in."

Jason chuckled. "Well to be honest, my wife is _loaded._" Jason said in undertone just in case there was an eavesdropper like his wife. "But anyways, come on, Chloe will kill me if I keep her waiting."

Relics nodded and quickly started to give himself an on the go last minute check. He ate three mints on the way there so his breath was fresh, his hair hadn't moved an inch the entire (for the first time) pleasant drive, and his cologne was holding strong but not too strong to offend. As they approached the door Relics adjusted his jacket and was all set.

Jason looked at him for confirmation and the human nodded. The German Sheppard opened the door and held it for Relics. The human took one step inside and realized what Jason said was true, his wife really _was _loaded. Jason's house smelt like fresh laundry that had been hung up to dry, the floors were all beautiful hardwood, there was furniture in the house more expensive then even he had, the whole house looked and felt clean, a giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and at the top of the stairs was a very pretty panther looking down on them in a dress as mystique as her deep dark purple fur.

"Hey Chloe." Jason smiled to the beaming feline.

"Hello Jason, and _hello_ Mister McCloud." Chloe said as she started down the stairs. "I've been hoping to meet you ever since my husband was assigned to be your body guard and chauffer."

'_Holy Hell! How in… where… how the fuck did Jason get his hands on this one? Hmm. She doesn't look like she had kids, so he didn't get her pregnant. Oh shit! She's talking to me!'_

"My name's Chloe Mahoney. It's a pleasure to meet you." The panther said when she reached the bottom of the stairs and approached him. She gave Relics a soft smile and her hand. Relics returned the smile, took the soft hand and gave it a longer than usually kiss.

"The pleasure's all mine." Relics replied and he could have sworn he heard the smallest growl come from Jason. The human looked to the canine but found him appearing to be in a pleasant mood. And speaking about pleasant moods, the feline was purring softly but Relics could hear her as if his ear was pressed against her chest.

"Might I introduce you to my sister? She's been dying as much as I have to meet you." Chloe asked.

Relics had no reserved feelings and nodded. "Sure, I'd love to meet your family."

The feline smiled brightly and wrapped her arm around Relics', which was incredibly awkward to him with Jason staring and despite it being custom amongst Cornerians for the hostess to escort the guest of honor around.

"I must thank you for accepting our hospitality Mr. McCloud. Jason has told me so much about you; I've been dying to meet you." Chloe said as her grip on his arm tightened making Relics blush sheepishly.

"Yeah well-" Relics began but heard a growl from Jason and immediately felt like he was going to get his ass kicked so hard.

"Knock it off you two!" Jason snapped and Relics forced his eyes shut, so sure that Jason's wrath was imminent. With Chloe holding him so tightly he'd have no chance to put up a defense.

"He's here already?" A woman's voice that wasn't Chloe's responded.

"Mister McCloud, might I introduce my sister Aeris, and her boyfriend Leo." Chloe said as Relics opened his eyes to see two housecats, one pink and the other grey. Aeris, the female, looked rather awed as she stared at Relics while the grey male feline Leo, just looked at him with an almost vacant stare.

"Hello." Relics said nervously when neither of them said anything.

"Hello." Leo replied. "Is that collar leather?" Leo asked when no one said anything for a while.

Relics nodded. "Yeah."

"It's either leather or nothing." Leo said and shuffled around awkwardly making a little dinging noise which drew Relics' eyes to the collar and bell around Leo's neck.

"Here Relics, sit here while I fetch something for you." Chloe said and sat Relics at the table in the chair to the left of the chair at the end of the small side of the rectangle table. Chloe left and Jason sat down in the chair at the end. Relics noticed that his eyes often darted to Leo and gave him a sour look before quickly looking away.

"So Relics, what's it like for you on Corneria?" Aeris asked, seemingly over her initial shock of seeing a human for the first time.

Relics' leg started to jump up and down underneath the table and the tablecloth. The worst part of living on Cornerian was all the questions, even now at dinner he couldn't avoid them.

"Alright, it's a beautiful place and the people are friendly." Relics replied.

"Everyone except that Wolf you kicked into the wall. Not even a rat-flail was as lethal as that kick." Leo laughed as he and Aeris sat down in their seats while leaving the seat across from Relics and to Jason's left open for Chloe.

"I'm sorry, a what?" Relics asked before Chloe returned holding a tray of some delicious looking scones. Even to Relics, who secretly loathed Cornerian food, was tempted by their complex beauty. They were perfectly shaded a light brown and the soft green cream inside looked delicious.

"Leo don't be weird around _him_." Relics heard Aeris whisper.

"Sorry, I was just trying to lighten things up. Jason looks like he's going to snap and try to kill me any second now." Leo whispered back nervously.

'_Probably.'_ Relics thought and graciously accepted the scone Chloe picked out for him, which was the largest of the batch. _'I hope I don't have to eat this with any silverware.'_

"Do you want one honey?" Chloe asked Jason to which the canine smiled but shook his head.

'_Fuck! Now how am I going to know? Come on, one of you two take a scone!' _Relics pleaded silently as Chloe carried the trey over to the two felines.

"No thanks sis, I'm going to wait."

'_FUCK!'_

"And you Leo?" Chloe asked as Relics' heart pounded in his ears.

"No thanks, I just ate two muffins." He said and smiled pleasantly. Chloe moved away and put the scones platter in the middle of the table just as Leo bent towards Aeris and whispered so quietly only he, Aeris, and Relics heard him. "And _you_ might I add."

"Shut up Leo." Aeris growled silently but blushed red all the while.

'_Oh God!'_ Relics thought and nearly lost his appetite.

Trying to keep the thought of Leo going down on Aeris out of his mind, Relics focused on the scone and wondered what to do with it. Fortunately, Chloe noticed his inexperience with the scone and picked one up for herself. Relics studied her intently as she held the scone in one hand and took a bite from it. The human was relieved by the lack of formality when eating the scone and quickly took a bite to not appear rude. Once his teeth penetrated the soft yet crunchy skin of the scone, his mouth became flooded with a delicious and still warm jelly.

'_Holy shit! This is so good! And the crunchiness is amazing!'_ Relics thought as he savored the flavor and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Do you like them? I made them myself." Chloe said when Relics swallowed the scone.

"Yes it's really good." Relics found himself saying after he swallowed the first bite. "Much better than Jason's."

"What's wrong with my cooking?" Jason asked. 

"Nothing honey, you just seem to burn boxed cereal when you add milk is all." Chloe replied as she patted Jason's hand on the table.

Jason gave Chloe the stink eye but was silent.

"What flavor are they, sis?" Aeris asked.

"Cornerian grasshopper." Chloe replied right as Relics took a bite but froze while doing so. If his eyes could open just two more millimeters, they'd have fallen out.

'_WAS THAT WHAT THE CRUNCH WAS!?'_ Relics shrieked in his mind and could think of nothing but grasshoppers from Earth in his mouth being chewed.

"Oh, nice. Maybe I _will_ have one." Jason said and took a scone before taking a large bite. "Mm, you left in the seeds."

'_Oh please God let grasshopper be the name of a fruit or something. Please don't let seed mean eggs!'_ Relics pleaded as the second bite in his mouth wriggled and writhed like a real bug.

"They're the ones from the garden, I picked them this morning." Chloe replied. "That bush you planted last year is very abundant with fruit."

'_**PRAISE JESUS!**__'_ Relics thought like an old, fat preacher of God. Instantly, the bitter taste in his mouth as well as the uncomfortable feeling of bug guts disappeared, and the delectable taste returned.

Relics continued to enjoy his scone and the dinner took off almost without him. Jason seemed to loosen up as he, Leo, Chloe, and Aeris talked about what they'd all been up to. The human now played a game where he would join the conversation, leave it, and come back again before he was missed. This way he didn't have to constantly keep talking, and he could eat his scones, of which he had three.

"So Relics, I've been hearing a lot about you but I still know so little. I… heard your father was killed in the First Contact." Aeris said but in such a sympathetic way Relics didn't lose his temper, yet. Still, his father was a very touchy subject to him and his mood turned sour.

"He was." Relics replied darkly.

Chloe flashed Aeris a quick dirty look to which Aeris ignored. "That must have been hard, and rather difficult to live here after that."

"At times." Relics said even darker as he stroked his silver knife with a finger. Jason, Chloe, and Leo noticed this and grew uneasy as Relics stared almost longingly at the sharp metal instrument of fine dining and potential murder. Once again Chloe gave Aeris a look that would have turned most people as white as Relics, but still, Aeris continued.

"Well, to do so takes courage Relics, real guts. I can't believe you don't hate us and actually came her. I know it might mean nothing but I'm sorry for what happened-"

"What happened on Mar Sara had nothing to do with you, Ms. Aeris." Relics grunted sharply, his hand resting on the knife. "I don't hate you or the Cornerian race, just the man responsible for my father's and all my slain people's deaths… but thank you." Relics finished softly as he took Aeris' apology to heart.

There was long pause before a loud ding interrupted it. The ding made everyone jump except Relics who was now almost sulking.

"That's dinner." Chloe said pleasantly as she stood up. "Excuse me; I'll be right back… Aeris." She finished sourly. "Why don't you come too?"

Aeris sighed but did so anyways. There was no avoiding it, she was about to get chewed out. The two women went into the kitchen leaving the three men alone with the awkward silence.

"Just what the _Hell_, are you doing Aeris!?" Chloe said so quietly Relics hardly heard them over Jason's breathing.

"I was just trying to say sorry." Aeris replied, just as quietly as Chloe.

"Did you see how angry he was? How upset you made him? For God sakes Aeris, you're as tactful as Leo! No wonder you're together! The boy lost his father but you're bringing it up like he lost a tooth or something! What were you thinking?" Chloe hissed just as a loud screeching groan, the sound of moving metal, was heard from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Chloe. I just felt bad is all. I've felt bad ever since the day we found out. I know it was Andross' doing but in some way we are all responsible for the lives lost that day." Aeris replied.

"Then tell him you're sorry later, but not in the middle of dinner! If he even smiles again I'll be surprised! Damn it, Aeris!" Chloe hissed before Jason's voice drowned them out.

"So Relics, you get any homework you need help with?" Jason asked.

Relics shook his head. "Not this week."

"Blasphemous stuff that homework. Now if you'll excuse me I must drain my sack of urine." Leo said suddenly as he stood up to leave.

'_I see what Chloe meant about tact.'_

Once Leo was gone Jason let a low growl out. "I can't stand that guy."

"Why? He's a little strange but he seems okay."

"I can't explain it Relics, I just don't like him." Jason sighed. "There's something about him that makes me want to rip his collar off and use it to strangle him."

'_Good old cats versus dogs syndrome.' _ Relics thought to himself and struggled not to laugh. Out of everyone, Jason was the most animalistic Cornerian he'd met. Sometimes he and Jason would just hang out and out of the blue he'd scratch himself. As he did however, his leg would bob up and down like a dog from Earth would. It took every fiber in his being not to laugh that day.

"Mm, smells like lasagna with three…" Jason said as he took in a sniff of the enticing aromas from the kitchen, "no! No, four! Four kinds of cheese!" The German Sheppard nearly barked as his tail wagged furiously from the hole in his chair. "I smell, I smell! No way!" Jason gapped as Chloe walked in holding a large pot.

"Yes Jason, Garlock soup." Chloe giggled as the canine lost all bearing. Relics laughed a little bit but stopped when he saw what looked like drool.

"It's been ages since we had that!" Jason said as Chloe put down the pot. Aeris was right behind her carrying the lasagna and she placed it next to the pot.

"I'll be right back with the bowls." Chloe said as she beamed at Jason. It seemed to Relics that she was very proud of her cooking, as was she proud of Jason's liking. Even Relics, who hated most Cornerian food, had to admit the soup smelled great and the lasagna was a bit appetizing. He'd had some cheese before and that was alright, maybe lasagna wouldn't be so bad with four cheeses in it.

As suddenly and rambunctious as he was, Leo came back and inhaled deeply.

"Wow, that smells awesome." He said and walked to the table. He reached out a hand to pick the lid off of the pot of soup but Jason growled at Leo, like a dog protecting his bone, and Leo's hand instantly retracted. The feline didn't say anything, he just shuffled uncomfortably back to his chair.

"So Leo." Relics said and cleared his throat. "How long have you known Aeris?" 

Leo's eyes instantly became doughy and he sighed contently. "About four years now. We've been dating for half that. We first met at a video game store. We both reached for Demonic at the same time and our hands touched. She threatened my life if I took the game so I let her have it, and she let me have her number." He said and Jason made a very quiet rumble in his throat.

"Here we go." Chloe said coming back with three bowls in hand. She walked around the table and placed down a fine glass bowl in front of Relics, Jason and her seat while Aeris did likewise but for her and Leo. From there, Chloe started handing out the soup. She helped Relics to a rather large helping before moving on to everyone else.

'_I don't even think my bladder could hold all that.' _Relics thought as he looked down at the tan soup. Some Cornerian vegetables were floating on the top and so were some beans. Relics had to admit, it smelt better than it looked but only just. Still, once everyone was served he'd eat it so not appear rude.

After Chloe served up the soup she busted out the plates she already had set on the table. Everyone got one a plate and their utensils were already set out which comprised of a normal spoon, a spork, and a knife. With the plates down, Chloe served up the homemade lasagna and made sure Relics got a slightly larger serving than everyone else.

'_Great, now I can go home and die constipated.'_ Relics thought as he stared at all the cheese on the lasagna. There wasn't an excess of cheese, just enough to match all the meats, noodles, and other stuff that Relics had no clue what it was.

"This looks amazing Chloe." Jason said as he stroked her leg underneath the tablecloth where no one was the wiser.

"Thank you Jason." She beamed and kept herself from purring

The dinner was very nice. It was as good or even better then the Winchester. Relics tried the soup and eventually he was asking for thirds, but he had so much scrumptious lasagna on his plate that he couldn't ask for seconds or the seconds would go to waste. Despite Chloe's prediction, Relics was smiling and laughing all throughout the night. Even Jason got over his irritated mood with Leo, and had a good time. 

At around ten however, Relics' wrist-com vibrated signaling he had a new text but he ignored it, he was busy eating his Garlock soup. Finally at around eleven, Relics punched his bowl and plate forward like Chloe had done, because she finished first, and he sighed contently.

"Was everything alright?" Chloe asked the sleepy human.

Relics blinked a few times before saying. "Mrs. Mahoney, no offense to your husband, but will you be my bodyguard from now on? He can't hold a candle to the ground you stand on to cook."

"I'm sorry Relics but I'm not in the army." Chloe purred while Jason rolled his eyes.

"Well, it was fun all, but I am tired." Leo said standing up and yawned. "It was nice to meet you Relics."

"Likewise." Relics replied even thought he wasn't too sure about Leo. He was a strange one but then everyone was, especially Relics himself.

"I'll see you later Aeris." Leo said and kissed the pink feline. For some reason though, they didn't stop kissing until Jason barked.

"Knock it off you two! Don't make me have to tell you again!"

"Okay, okay." Leo said quickly. "I'll head up to my room then."

With that the crazy feline left.

"Whoa crap! I got to get you home Relics." Jason said as Relics nearly dozed off. His stomach was comfortably full, his eyes droopy, and the sweet aromas of Chloe's cooking still lingered in the room.

"Hmm?" Relics asked opening his eyes. "Oh, okay." He said slowly stood up. Chloe stood up with him and walked around to escort the guest of honor to the door. She wrapped her arm around Relics' arm and led him to the door.

"Bye Relics." Aeris called out as Chloe led him away.

"Thank you so very much for coming Mr. McCloud." Chloe said as she, Jason and he walked to the door.

"Thank _you_ for the amazing hospitality. And call me Relics." He finished which made the panther purr even louder. Once they reached the door Jason opened it. Chloe let him go and held out her hand to shake. Relics took it and like before he kissed it but this time he did so twice. "Good night Mrs. Mahoney."

"Please, call me Chloe." She beamed.

"Okay come on let's go buddy." Jason said before Relics could reply. Jason led Relics to the car and Relics crawled into the backseat ready to doze off until he remembered his text. Deciding to check it before he fell asleep, Relics opened up his wrist-com and chose the text message. When he read it, his blood ran cold and all feelings of fatigue and drowsiness vanished in a heart stopping moment.

"_**We've got your girlfriend. Come to the school alone, and if you tell anyone she dies."**_

~X~X~X~X~

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Hey guys, just wanted to throw this out there: I don't own VGCats, that one guy Scott something (or whatever) does. if you're interested. **_


	15. First Strike

The pale human nearly became transparent as his blood ran cold and all color evaporated from his skin, leaving only the blue veins crawling all-round his body. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the attached picture to the text message. Lana was in trouble, she was tied to a chair, her red eyes were even redder since she was crying, and the look on her face was begging for help. Behind her however, there was a face that was burned into Relics' mindset for the rest of his life. Relics nearly ground his teeth away as he glared at the smug lupine's face. Without thinking, Relics' fingers acted on their own accord and replied.

"_**I got your message. Don't hurt her, because if you do, I'll tear through your whole fucking race to kill you if I have to."**_He replied just as Jason pulled the car into the driveway.

"Alright, we're here." Jason said and opened his door. Relics rushed out before Jason could courteously do so for Relics. When Jason caught sight of the enraged human before him, he almost didn't recognize him to be Relics. "Hey buddy, are you alright?" He asked before flinching as Relics' iced over grey eyes glanced him.

"**I'm**…" Relics began but caught himself quickly. He didn't want Jason involved because he was the military type, and he'd call for the authorities or backup, and by doing so, get Lana killed. "I'm fine Jason," Relics said and yawned to add affect, "just tired. Thanks for the dinner and don't forget to say goodnight to Chloe for me."

"Uh huh." Jason replied, not even noticing the innuendo. "Well… okay then. I'll swing by tomorrow and we can go do something if you want."

"Nah, I think I'll stay home and sleep all day. Your wife's cooking is great but I feel like I'm about to fall into a pleasant coma now." Relics said and pretended to laugh, but it was from his throat and scratchy. Still, Jason being as naïve to human facial expressions and emotions as he was, didn't catch Relics' distortion of normalcy (especially since normal wasn't the most accurate word to describe him with to begin with).

"Yeah, first time she cooked for me I hardly had enough energy to plow her-" Jason started but was cut off by Relics who didn't want to hear anything about his love life like he did with Leo and Aeris whispering to each other most throughout dinner.

"Well goodnight, Jason, see ya two days from now." Relics said and walked as quickly as he dared towards the front-door. When he got there he looked back and saw Jason watching him. Relics smiled as warmly as he could and waved. Jason nodded and got into the car before driving off. The human was inside watching him go and waited for five of the longest minutes of his life. As he waited he couldn't stop thinking of Lana, her fear, her tears, her eyes. It was entirely his fault. He knew if he hadn't said yes to her date, Wolf wouldn't have targeted her. Still, there was no point crying over it now, action had to be taken.

'_Okay Fox, gather your bearings.'_ Relics thought to himself as he his survival training kicked in. _'What did they teach you? What did they teach you? They taught you to go equipped but I can't walk out of here with a gun because I don't have one and I'd get in such deep shit! No, a knife, a kitchen knife!'_ Relics thought and ran to the kitchen where he found a kitchen set of cutlery. His first choice would have been the largest chopping knife but he had to downsize the knife, it had to hide in his clothes and couldn't make a bulge if he happened to meet someone this late out at night.

Relics picked up the median of the knives and ran upstairs as fast as he could before putting it down on his bed. He then threw off his fancy clothes and put on less constricting clothes that breathed a lot better. He now wore a pair of black slacks and a different black T-shirt because the one he wore today to school was still covered in paint splatters. It was already cold outside so he also threw on a black hoody for extra warmth and concealment. Once his sneakers were on, the human stored the knife inside left coat pocket along with his music player (his plan being to use it as an alibi that he was out for a walk if he was caught), bolted to the door, and began his journey through the shadows of the Cornerian suburbs.

'_Oh yeah, getting pretty tingly. Fuck I love knives!'_

Since he lived in a Cornerian urban area, there weren't very many lights around because people liked not having dozens of lights drilling into their curtains and homes while they slept. As Relics ran around, ducking, dipping, and hiding from any random cars or lit houses, he realized he hadn't felt this alive in a while. His blood was rushing, muscles twitching excitedly, and he was making great time. With any luck he'd be at the school in just a few minutes, unless something unexpected happened.

"Relics!?" Someone said behind the human who was slowly creeping or rather, walking through the darkened sidewalk. Relics nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around, ready to fight for his life and then some. But when he heard the familiar giggle of a certain vixen, he didn't make a move to attack.

"Oh my God, Fara!" Relics sighed exasperatedly as he put a hand over his heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"_I_ almost gave _you_ a heart attack? No offense Relics but I almost jumped out of my fur when I saw you, an alien, walking down the street." Fara giggled as her tail whipped around behind her. "So what are you doing out this late anyway?"

Relics thought at a thousands thoughts a second trying to come up with a viable excuse. When he didn't think of one, just before his silence became suspicious, he retorted.

"What are _you_ doing out this late?"

Fara's eyes widened and she couldn't look him in the eyes. "Oh nothing. Just out for a walk, I can't get to sleep tonight. Your music is still ringing in my ears."

"Really? Well here." Relics said and reached into his pocket. Instead of pulling out the knife however, he pulled out a little device about two inches in height and an inch in length. "This is my music player; you can borrow it if you want."

Fara's muzzle dropped and her eyes lit up. "Are you serious!?" She asked to which Relics nodded, to which she attempted to crush him with her arms. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Relics, you've made my year." Fara said as she crushed Relics' in the strongest hug of the young human's life.

The human's misty gray eyes began to flicker open and closed as red little spots distorted his vision. His brain wasn't getting any oxygen and in a few more moments he'd pass out, or die, whatever came first. Luckily though, Fara heard him make a little wheezy whimper and she released him.

"Oh sorry. I didn't mean to choke you." She said, her large ears drooping in such a way that Relics couldn't help but forgive her.

"It's no problem." He panted as he massaged his neck under the suppressor. Every time he moved it however, he felt a little prick in his neck and he remembered how his life dangled precariously with the suppression collar on. Saving Lana would be so easy if he could move faster than anyone on the planet.

"I'll take really good care of it, don't worry." Fara said beaming red which was visible to Relics even in the dark. "Oh thank you so much!" She said and wrapped her arms around his chest and nuzzled him affectionately, something she'd never do in the light of day with people watching because it was just so embarrassing.

'_Think unsexy thoughts! Think unsexy thoughts! Think unsexy thoughts!' _Relics chanted in his head as the vixen continued to caress him.

"_**You know, if things don't work out between you and Lana, there are always other options." Jason said in the back of Relics mind.**_

'_You know, he could actually be right. I mean, Fara's not all bad. Wait! What the fuck am I thinking?! What about Lana? Look at the danger she's in because of the one date you went on with her! Damn it! I'm wasting precious time here!' _ Relics thought.

"Hey Fara, I hate to do this but I got to go." Relics said which stopped Fara's affectionate nuzzling.

"Really? Where you going?" Fara asked taking a step back so she wasn't right up in his face.

"The scho- nowhere." Relics said praying to God that she didn't catch that or the translator didn't fully translate that time.

'… _Epic fail self… epic fail.'_

Fara eyed him suspiciously but eventually she nodded, although suspiciously.

"Alright… you don't need any help or an escort do you?" Fara asked.

"Nah, I'm a big boy." Relics said and started walking backwards. "I'll see ya later." He said as he waved and then turned around.

Fara watched him as he left and she could just feel something wasn't right. First Lana didn't answer her damn phone, and then she runs into the last person she thought she'd find out at night. The auburn vixen wasn't dumb; she did her homework on the human before she even set foot onto school campus. Relics was more of a recluse that barely left his government mandated home but she couldn't blame him. The few times he did leave his home, swarms of paparazzi and reporters trying to make names for themselves rushed his ass like he was the last interesting thing on the planet.

As she started heading home, the nagging feeling of something being wrong didn't leave her and then it hit her. Why was he going to the school? Why was he heading the complete opposite way of his house? And why wasn't Fara calling or texting back?

"Of course." Fara whispered to herself and then turned around. A sneaky, mischievous face crept across the vixen's muzzle and she started chasing after the human making sure to stay out of his line of sight and hearing.

'_Oh Lana you sly minx, I should have known.'_ Fara thought to herself as she followed the incognito human. _'You and Relics probably have some romantic date set up at the school, and you don't want anyone else to know. Well you can never keep anything from me Lana, you're too easy. God damn he's got a sweet ass, just like Fox's in fact. Oh God, just thinking of the two of them naked and-'_

'_For some reason I feel like my ass is being violated.' _ Relics thought to himself but kept walking. Whenever he came to a streetlamp he'd wait for cars if there were any, and he crossed the street back into the shadows. As he kept going and neared the high school, he felt as if something wasn't just watching his ass. Relics turned around but didn't see anything and shrugged it off.

Finally he reached the school grounds and made sure that his hood was covering his face as efficiently as possible. He didn't want it to hamper his already weakened night vision, but he did want his face to be covered in case a random pedestrian or driver noticed him. Little did he know he already failed that objective.

'_If I get their romantic date on camera, Lana will be my bitch until she dies.'_ Fara thought sadistically as she readied her phone's camera and followed Relics as closely as she dared. She already knew about his superb hearing so she was careful to limit her breathing, her force of steps, and overall noise to the minimal.

The chestnut vixen hid behind a waist high hedge grove and quivered with excitement as Relics walked into the courtyard. She was a little confused why Lana was nowhere to be seen but she then thought that it was he who was going to set up the date.

'_Aw! That's so sweet!'_ Fara thought as she imagined Lana walking towards Relics, the moonlight reflecting off her fur and eyes as the human stood completely transfixed in her beauty. They wouldn't say anything as their locked eyes had already said everything. As she'd near him Relics would smoothly wrap one of his arms around Lana's curvy waist and the other he'd place on the back of her head. His fingers would glide through her silky hair and slowly pull her in to a kiss.

Suddenly Fara saw a figure approaching Relics' front and she eagerly awaited the show of star crossed lovers with her phone's camera. Sure he was an alien, and sure the Cornerian's killed thousands of his people, but they overcame the odds; he loved her and she loved him back. Their love for each other allowed them to see past the deaths, fur, and skin, allowing them to pear right into one another's hearts and soul.

The figure got closer but like Relics, was garbed in all black. Fara leaned in close to hear what they were saying but a random gust of wind drowned them out. The vixen's large ears twitched and their words came back to her.

"-to her? Where is she?" Relics asked darkly.

"The pretty little minx is fine. This way." A suave voice said.

'_That's not Lana.'_ Fara realized suddenly as the man led Relics towards the A building. Fara began to run as quickly as possible to find out just what was going on but then the man pulled out a gun. "RELICS, LOOK OUT!" Fara cried as she was too far away to do anything else.

The vixen closed her eyes and heard the gun discharge and someone grunt in pain. She heard several more pain filled screams and when it was all over she opened her eyes.

"Fara, what are you doing here?" Relics growled as he towered over the vixen by whole foot.

"You're… you're not dead?" Fara whimpered and looked past Relics to see the possible dead body of the other man.

'_Just dead tired of you following me you crazy stalker.' _

"No, I'm not. What are you doing here?" Relics repeated.

Fara licked her lips and fidgeted nervously. "I-I-I…" She stuttered and tried to come up with an excuse. "I was uh… I was- I was worried about Lana! She never answered my texts or calls and so I figured she was in trouble. I thought you of all people would know where she was since you are her boyfriend."

'_Boyfriend!?' _Relics thought as the word sank in. He'd had a few girlfriends before Lana but the idea of him and her officially being a couple was oddly moving in a way. He rather liked the thought of holding her hand as they walked together side by side, talking for hours on end, and kissing so tenderly. _'Damn it! No! It's because people think that I am her… boyfriend that she's in so much trouble.'_

"So do you know where she is, Relics?" Fara asked.

Relics sighed. "Wolf has her."

"Wolf!? Wolf has her!?" Fara shouted before quickly attacking her phone for her contacts.

"What are you doing? The authorities can't know about this, he said he'd kill her if they got involved!" Relics protested trying to snag the phone from Fara but she pushed him away rather easily which was strange since he was almost twice her size.

"The cops? I'm not calling those donut warriors!" Fara snapped. "I'm calling someone who will be a lot more useful than the over-glorified mall security force."

Relics cocked an eyebrow at her unusual hatred for her kind's police force. Where he came from, police were highly revered and respected. Here apparently, wasn't the case.

"Hello? Fox? Listen and shut up, this is Fara." The auburn vixen growled, silencing the grumpy sounding voice on the other end. "And tell Miyu to shut her face too! Listen! Wolf's got Lana at the school! Get everyone here but do _not_ call the cops! Relics is here with me, we're going in after her."

'_Wait, hold the phone… no pun intended.' _

"Fara, what do you mean you're- okay." Relics said when Fara threw him a rabid glare.

"Get her as soon as you can… and put your damn pants back on, both of you!" Fara snapped which made Relics' stomach clench. He hated knowing all these things, like earlier at dinner when Leo and Aeris whispered to each other almost all throughout the dinner about things. Things he had less then no desire to know at all.

"We need to find out where she is." Fara growled before storming over to the body of the panther on the ground and the vixen stepped on his stomach.

"Ah! Get off me!" He groaned.

"Panther… I should have known Wolf would have sent his little pet dick." Fara growled before stomping on Panther's manhood. The feline let out a loud shriek and caterwaul. Eventually her heel was removed from his groin and she picked him up by the collar of his leather jacket.

"Where is Lana? What have you done with her?" Fara asked as Relics watched in horror, thanking everything that is holy that he never treated Lana badly.

"She's in the A building, third floor!" Panther grunted. "I didn't touch her, I swear, Wolf just sent me to kill the human is all- AH AHA OW!"

"No one," Fara hissed, "and I mean _no one_ hurts my friends. How many of _your_ friends are up there anyway?"

"T-Ten. None of them have guns except for Wolf." Panther cried out as best as he could what with Fara's heel jabbing into his

That was all she was looking for so Fara shoved Panther down making his skull go crack and his lights go out. The vixen exhaled haughtily before returning her attention back to Relics. "So you coming or not?"

"Yes ma'am." The human found himself saying. Fara was usually so nice and perky but now she had become tough and slightly hostile.

'_This probably is nowhere near as scary as Miyu is.'_ Relics thought as he followed Fara into the A building. Before they took a step in however, Fara spun around and held out her hand.

"Give me the gun, now." She hissed.

Relics flinched and started to sweat. "Yeah… about that… it kind of broke. When I kicked the gun out of that panther's hand it smashed on the concrete and his head fell on it, further breaking it."

Fara groaned and rolled her eyes. "I'm not even going to begin to say how much that pisses me off and pretty much screws us over."

"Sorry." Relics apologized.

"It's fine, if the others have guns though, you're my meat shield." Fara said and walked into the unlocked A building front doors.

Relics walked in behind her but was having difficulty seeing because it was so dark. That didn't mean the Cornerians were having problems, they could see in the dark far better than any human.

"Okay let's-" Relics began just as a loud discharge of energy from a blaster rang out in the building. On reflex, Relics' eyes shifted from normal to their enhanced state and he saw where it was coming from. A bright flash of red and he saw the bolt slowly making its way towards Fara. Thinking quickly, Relics dove and the vixen but with his reduced speed, he didn't move hardly at all in his eyes. The human closed his eyes tightly and his eyes switched back.

The red bolt of energy reached the two but thanks to Relics' swift action and the shooter's poor shot to begin with, Fara's life was saved but Relics was placed in its line. The bolt trailed across his neck but the suppressor took the hit and was only nicked in the process. The duo hit the ground but before they could get back up, Relics felt a powerful blow smash into his face. The human grunted loudly then stopped moving. He heard Fara scream and she started cussing a lot for whoever was holding her to let go so she could kill them, but seeing as how she was going to kill them, they obviously weren't going to oblige in her request. Relics was next to be apprehended and but he pretended to be in too much pain to defend himself. Someone started to haul him up by his jacket's collar. Relics' feet were almost planted when whoever was holding him up started to slap him to see if he was conscious.

"Heh, this one's out." A very cocky and southern sounding voice laughed.

'_Heh-heh, now to screw with him.'_ Relics thought.

"Okay let's go take him to- AHHH!" Relics' assailer started screaming when Relics opened his eyes, and started screaming at the top of his lungs, and then grabbed the rabbit by the shoulders. The rabbit had no time to react or respond other then scream in fright before Relics jumped up and kicked him in the stomach with both his legs in a sort of reverse donkey kick. The rabbit when flying back and curled up in a pain wracked ball, gasping for breath and hardly able to move.

Once the rabbit was off him however, Relics hit the ground again on his back this time. A monkey with a gun who was holding Fara shoved her to the ground and pointed the gun at Relics' head. Little did he realize that Relics' foot was well within range and he kicked the gun out of the monkey's hand.

"Ow! Damn it!" Fara hissed when the butt of the gun hit her on the head as she tried to get back up.

Relics threw his legs back and did a reverse summersault winding back up on his feet. From there, it was all downhill for the monkey. The monkey managed to make one jab at Relics before the fight was over. Relics saw the attack coming with his enhancements and ducked under the jab. The human then grabbed the overly hairy arm and held him as he repeatedly punched the monkey in the stomach, sometimes rotating between a fist and a knee.

"AHHH! TAKE THIS MOTHERFUCKERS!" Fara shouted at the top of her lungs when she was on her feet. She pointed the gun from the monkey around only to find Relics had taken care of their attackers.

"Well that was fun. Really got the blood pumping." Relics sighed when he let go of the heavily winded monkey. The simian collapsed clutching his stomach and made little wheezy whines and no attempts to get up.

"You… you got them?" Fara asked half surprised and half disappointed she didn't get to shoot something.

"Yup, try to keep up with me, Fara." Relics joshed the vixen.

The auburn fox squinted her eyes at Relics. "Watch yourself buddy; I've got the gun now."

"Uh yeah, let's uh… let's get going then." Relics replied not wanting to be on the dangerous vixen's list.

"Wait, I'll take point, I have the gun after all." Fara said cutting Relics off mid stride making him trip up a little.

'_All right then, Chuck Norris.' _Relics thought as he rolled his eyes. The only reason she was there was because he wouldn't be able to get rid of her if he tried. She wasn't supposed to have gotten involved and now her life was on the line as well.

The duo proceeded deeper into the A building. If Panther hadn't lied, like he did about the gun, then Lana was on the third floor. Hopefully these two were the only other ones Wolf had stationed anywhere else.

The human and the vixen managed to make it half way through the A building commons unchallenged, and Relics was starting to become optimistic (which was an fifty point achievement for him).

'_You know, I don't think we're going to see anyone else down here! Yeah! This will go easier than a-'_

"DON'T MOVE NUT-SACK OR I'LL BLOW YOUR GOD DAMN GUTS OUT!" A voice shouted so loudly that someone almost shit in Relics' pants.

'_Nut-sack?'_

The only thing keeping Relics frozen solid was the hard circular piece sticking into his lower back. He didn't have to see it to know it was a Cornerian gun, possibly a variant of a rifle or shotgun.

Fara tried to spin around and help, but a swift blow to the head from behind took her down.

"Fara." Relics growled to himself, seething with anger. If there wasn't a gun pointed at his back with the potential to blow all his vital organs through the front of him and saw him in half, he'd have repaid the smiling stoat by knocking every one of his crooked teeth out, ultimately doing him a favor by getting rid of that ugly smile.

The stoat looked over to Relics and grinned smugly.

"Well, well, well. Looks like our big bad human needed backup from some ditzy broad." The stoat cackled as he pointed his own shotgun shaped weapon at Relics' face. "Go tell Lord O'Donnell we got him."

Relics' teeth began to grind away at each other as he listened for his second attacker to leave. The human had a plan in the making, but he wasn't the greatest strategist unless it was in video games. So with that in mind, Relics decided his next course of action.

'_Well I'm dead anyway… might as well go out fighting and if this works, I get ice cream…'_

The human tilted his head down to glare at the stoat with the fiercest glare he could muster and because he was an alien and one of the scariest things the stoat had seen, it worked. The gunman flinched from the fire leaping from Relics' eyes and in his instant of vulnerability; Relics shoved the barrel away from his face and body with his left hand, and quickly curled his elbow at the stoat. There was a rewarding crack sound and the stoat immediately began to crumple. Relics then grabbed the gun with his left and ducked down.

His swift action was what saved his life, as the other gunman heard the attack and had shot where Relics' head was just seconds before he ducked. Without hesitation, Relics returned fire.

Click.

'_Click? Click!? CLICK!? What the fuck kind of report is a cli-' _Relics thought to himself before a current of electricity spiked through his body from the gun. The shock was so fast and terrible; Relics didn't have the ability to scream before he fell unconscious.


	16. The Showdown

"Relics! Relics! Relics please wake up! Relics!" Was the first thing the dazed human heard as he slowly regained consciousness. Everything faded in and out, sound, colors, pitches of black and white, even touch was all messed up. He knew Fara was shaking him on the shoulders, but sometimes he'd be being shaken around and he couldn't feel her fear empowered hands.

He then began to remember everything that led up till this point and he couldn't feel any stupider than he was for picking up that gun. He should have remembered that the Cornerian race was extremely careful about their guns and who could use them. Most Cornerian guns were DNA locked to their owners and select other people. If the user was not authorized the weapon's battery would vibrate, warning the unauthorized user before shocking him. Only thing was Relics moved too quickly to feel the rumble, and so he paid for it. Relics never understood why Cornerians did this; he was raised to share with others. It was just another one of their customs that made no sense to him, like having a toilet that wipes your ass with a stream of cold water.

"Ugh." Relics grunted and rolled over to avoid waking up. "No, five more minutes Jason. Five more minutes." He complained and slipped back into a below average mindset, something that was not all that new to him.

"Damn it! Wake up Relics! Relics!" The voice cried and began to sound extremely upset and frightened. To further Relics' attention, the voice was so lovely that he wanted to leap into action and possibly get the number of the girl with such a wonderful voice.

"Huh? What? Fara!? What happened? Where are we?" Relics asked as he clutched his sore head.

"I don't know what happened." Fara snapped as she looked around. "Looks like Mrs. Evans' homeroom on the second floor. Some guys that were guarding the door just left and Wolf is on his way. They said he was going to kill us when he got here."

"Don't worry too much; he won't be coming in here." Relics pointed out. "If he was we'd have been tied up. He wouldn't risk another ass kicking again. If anything he's going to gas us or something… check the windows." Relics said realizing that there still was a cause for alarm.

Fara quickly tried every single window before she found they were all locked.

"I can't, they're all locked and the only way to open them is to use a password that the teacher has." Fara reported as Relics tried the door. She knew they were going to stay closed but there was always room to try and hope.

"This door is locked tighter then a saint's chastity belt." Relics sighed before pausing "I hope I didn't just say that out loud just now."

Fara just shook his head trying not to laugh. "You're weird Relics, but you're mind kind of weird. What do we do now?"

The human began to pace and he took in his environment. All the desks in the room were lined up against one of the walls and there were no air ducts like in the movies so he couldn't send Fara. His next option was to pick the lock with his knife in his shoe but when he checked for it he found it was gone. Other then that, there was no way they'd be able to make it through the reinforced door or the glass window with metal fencing inside it. They were pretty trapped alright; Wolf pulled out all the stops for this little cage. Although, they weren't bound up which would allow for him and Fara to hide and possibly ambush the next few people who came in. It would be risky, but it was the best they had.

The human sighed and told the auburn vixen his plan.

"What are you crazy? Did you see the heat that some of them were packing? Shotguns, magnums, and one even had a Venomian assault rifle!" Fara snapped.

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas you dumb- oh woops." Relics said and stopped himself before the glaring vixen tore out his esophagus.

'_Damn it! What the Hell is wrong with me? Did I take a real nasty hit to the head or something?'_ Relics thought to himself. "Why do I keep thinking out loud?"

"I don't know, but you better come up with something better then a hopeless rush!" Fara snapped. She liked Relics, but he was starting to act like a jerk now.

"Look I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm thinking out loud and I have no right calling you names or even thinking you names. I'm a little stressed right now but that's still no excuse." Relics apologized quickly.

Fara squinted at him but her stern eyes soon gave way. "Alright, I forgive you. Now please hurry up before they come-"

A loud tapping on the homeroom door immediately drew the duo's attention to the door. Relics and Fara froze in horror as they saw their captor holding a gun and a crying Lana in his hands. Lana had a knife to her right jugular while Wolf held his gun in his left. If Fara hadn't rushed for the door first, Relics would have slammed his entire body into it in a vain attempt to get his hands around the wretched cur's throat.

"LET HER GO YOU SICK FUCK!" Fara shrieked as she pounded on the glass where Wolf's face was. It took a few moments but eventually Fara calmed down and Wolf finally spoke.

"Don't worry Fara; I'll let her go, as soon as you strip for me." Wolf said with an evil grin.

Then it was Relics' turn to rush the door.

"God damn it Wolf! Let us out of here! We're not going to play your games! If you were a man you'd let them go and FIGHT ME!" Relics shouted and started hitting the window so hard that it nearly cracked.

"I'm not an idiot, skinner. After our little fight I did my research on you. As it turns out you're here because you are an expendable failure. Those _enhancements_ you were given were botched and you only beat me because you risked going blind just to read my movements."

Relics bared his teeth and pounded the glass even harder.

"That Suppressor on your neck keeps you from using the only enhancement that actually works properly. Now unless you want to see this bitch's brains all over the hallway, I suggest you have Fara take her shirt off." Wolf growled as he pointed the gun at Lana's head.

"You coward." Relics snapped. "I bet you don't even have a set of stones between your legs, just a hole! A hole so deep that it reaches into the underworld where all the-"

"I suggest you stop talking skinner, lest I smash the whore's face on this window until she looks like you!" Wolf thundered. "Now that's more like it." Wolf said, eyeing the slowly stripping vixen. Relics turned to look but turned away when he saw the vixen wearing only shoes, pants, and a skimpy and very lacy bra. "Now the pants. Come on, lose the pants."

"Just what are you planning Wolf?" Fara growled as she skittishly unbuttoned her pants from behind Relics' back.

"I'm glad you asked, bitch." Wolf cackled. "As it turns out, you and Relics came here tonight to get down and dirty and spawn some ugly ass kids with you, when along come little miss sucked my dick. She sees you two in a heated romance and confronts you two only to find that the door locked behind her and an electrical glitch set the second floor on fire."

'_Well that explains why we weren't bound… and the stripping.'_ Relics thought to himself.

"What about all the cameras, Wolf? Huh? What about all the laser scarring downstairs?" Fara asked with her pants lying on the ground and her arms and tail covering her body as best as they could from Wolf's greedy lavender eyes.

"The second floor chemistry classroom will explode in flames, effectively spreading to the rest of A building and will take care of any laser burns. As for the cameras, the electrical glitch came from the cameras overloading from a power surge." Wolf replied.

"It's brilliant." Relics said aloud.

"Relics!" Fara gasped angrily and hit his left shoulder from behind.

"I mean, it's not good but it's a fool proof plan. I can't find anything wrong with it except oh maybe, the note I left back at my place that exposes you and your little plot here." Relics bluffed.

Wolf glared at Relics. "Sadly, with most every fire fighter here trying to put out the fire here, your house will be going up in flames at the same time."

'_F-bomb deployment in three, two, one-'_

"Now Ms. Phoenix, take off the human's shirt and rub yourself and your clothes on him." Wolf ordered.

"What will that accomplish you pervert?" Fara snapped angrily from behind Relics, her human shield.

"I need his DNA to be on you and yours on him for this to work." Wolf explained. "Come now, do it quickly or the slut-bag looses an ear." The lupine said pointing the gun in Lana's ear.

"You so much as scratch her and I'll cut every piece of skin off your body with a rusty scalpel." Relics threatened emptily. He'd be more than happy to make good on his threat, but with nigh impregnable door in the way he couldn't.

"Now, now. Such a temper will get you no-" Wolf chided until there came a loud bang from below their feet. "What the Hell? What are those idiots doing down there?"

"Is that gunfire?" Relics asked aloud.

"Don't get your hopes up human." Wolf snarled. "It's probably some janitor that my men blew away."

"I wouldn't be too sure, Wolf. Sounds like your boy-toys are getting some return fire." Fara sneered from behind her human shield. "Which means that can only be Fox."

"McCloud?" Wolf growled. "You're bluffing! There's no way that ginger-" The lupine said just as a red bolt whizzed over his head. "Shit!" He cursed and returned fire, dragging Lana with him and using her as a shield.

"Lana!" Relics shouted as beams of light were exchanged up and down the hallway until finally they both stopped. The human noticed all the shots at Wolf were all wild and didn't go near him or Lana. Relics tried his best to force the door open but it wouldn't budge. Finally, after several seconds of tortuous waiting a somewhat friendly face showed up.

"Falco!" Fara exclaimed happily and jumped to release some of the overwhelmingly good feeling energy. Falco was about to ask why the Hell she was topless when he saw the bouncing and jiggling. He blushed for a moment and didn't say anything until Relics brought him back.

"Falco let us out!" Relics said and knocked on the window. "They're getting away!"

"What? Oh yeah right!" The falcon said only after Fara started putting her shirt back on. "Stand back." He said and once they were both clear of the door he started kicking in the door. The door took a few kicks but the second it caved in, Relics bolted out of it, nearly throwing Falco to the floor. "Yeah thanks buddy!" Falco called out as Relics ran full sprint after Lana and Wolf.

"Forget it Fara, they need our help downstairs." Falco said handing Fara a gun.

The vixen watched as Relics went to go save Lana and wished she could go help him, but Falco was right. She could hear the battle raging downstairs, and if they managed to get upstairs, Relics would be in trouble. Praying for the human to be safe, Fara grudgingly followed Falco back downstairs.

The human's mad dash reached the end of A building and the large stairwell up. He took one step up the stairs before jumping back. Something in his gut told him that if he took another step up he wouldn't live to make another. Sure enough, he heard a click and a small whistle whirl; it was the sound of a Cornerian gun priming.

"Sit tight, he might be back." A near silent whisper reached Relics' sublime hearing.

With the stairs out, Relics looked around. All he could find was an empty hallway with empty classrooms to his right, the stairs in front of him, a wall to his right, and a large double pain set of windows behind him.

'_Well this sucks!'_ Relics scowled in his head as he paced around. Running back the other way would take too long and it too might be covered by trigger happy gunmen. It then occurred to Relics that there was a soft breeze sighing on his back. He turned to the window and opened it quietly before looking down. The human's blood drained from his body all the way down to his feet and froze. His heart pounded hard to get the blood out of his feet, back to the rest of his body, and back to a temperature above freezing.

'_Heights, nature's reminder that I am a friggen puss. That and spiders.' _Relics thought and stepped back from the window. He caught his breath and held his heart in his hand. _'Come on, come on! I can do this! All I got to do is climb out this window and scale up the side of the building! I've done this a thousand times in Assassin's Creed! I can… no! Not happening. I'd rather run up those stairs and try to dodge lasers with a bulls-eye painted on my back and chest!'_

"Come on you idiots! The shuttle's going to take off in a few minutes. If you're not on it you'll be hitching a ride home with McCloud and his friends." A gruff voice snapped.

"A shuttle!? Where did he get a shuttle?" Relics said loud enough for the people upstairs to hear. He covered his big stupid mouth but it was too late.

"Who is that?"

"I think it's one of McCloud's crew-"

"Then why isn't he dead?" The gruff voice shouted. There wasn't an answer so there came another sound of a gun being primed. "Follow me then. We'll clean up your mess before we take off."

Three men padded down the stairs, their guns charged and out in front of them. Each one of them moved into formation of a triad and covered each other. They looked all around the stairwell. They hadn't heard anyone run down the stairs so they didn't bother looking down there, the hallway was deserted, and there was nowhere else to hide. Eventually, the leader gave up.

"Get your asses upstairs, that better not have been the human." The raven cawed as he pointed at the stairs.

The dog and the badger quickly ran up the stairs two at a time. The leader was about to follow but a soft breeze ruffled his ebony feathers. This inquired the bird's interest. He moved to investigate the open window. His nose smelt a foreign scent of that of an off-worlder and he peered through the window. The second he looked down he saw a hand reach up for him and grabbed his shirt's collar.

There was a scream and then a thud seconds later.

Relics climbed back in through the window and dusted himself off. That was remarkably easy and he felt like an assassin.

'_Wow, I feel like even more of a badass now! The way I yanked that guy off the- …wait. That came out really wrong.' _Relics though, his feeling of epicenes scathed by his homophobic mind. _'Anyways, now for the others.'_

Forgetting how badass he was pulling the bird out of the window and throwing him into the bushes below, the human quietly walked up the stairs. When he didn't see a laser bolt go through his head he knew it was safe enough. Once at the top of the stairs, he noticed a fire escape ladder open in the middle of the hallway. There wasn't anyone else in the hallway, so he continued to cautiously advance. He made it to the ladder safe and sound, but there was no telling what was waiting for him up top.

Relics heard the roar of engines being prepped for launch, so he knew time was running out. Like a cat, Relics climbed up the ladder silently and crawled up onto the roof, his black clothing concealing him from the anxious sentry. The sentry was more concerned of getting on the shuttle then keeping watch.

The roof of A building had several large air conditioning units on it and a massive shielding unit that was used back when space pirates were an actual threat to Corneria. The conditioners ran in rows of two by eight while the shielding unit sat in between two groups of four. The shuttle was at the left end of the building and Relics was halfway there. He was now hiding behind the shielding unit, wondering how on Earth he was going to be able to storm into the shuttle, kick all the asses in there (except for Lana's), take Lana, and get home without anyone seeing him or her. Still, he hadn't had a plan before this point, so why make one now?

When the sentry turned to check that the shuttle hadn't gotten airborne yet, Relics quickly dashed to the second to last air conditioner. Once there, Relics pressed his back against the conditioner, his heart racing with excitement. He knew just how he'd drop the sentry; all he needed was the opportunity.

"All right guys! I'm tired of this shit!" The swine griped and turned around. Relics' eyes dilated and he sprinted at the unsuspecting pig. He moved so quickly but so quietly, it was like he was flying in death's chariot.

"Just shut up Beckman! We'll give the others another five minutes before we-" A voice from the ship called out to the pig, but he was already out cold by the time he said we.

When Relics reached the pig, he quickly kicked his legs out from under him, covered the swine's snout, spun himself around so that he faced the muffled pig and slammed his head back into the ground. The feeling left Relics ecstatic. Not even when he played video games did he get this kind of rush. He was fulfilling one of his primal urges; if a Denny's was open right next to a brothel then he'd be set for the night. Sadly, neither one of those things existed on Corneria to his knowledge.

The five minutes passed and the shuttle was ready for launch. The winged egg shaped shuttle was about to lift off when a mink came out to call Beckman in.

"Hey, Beckman! Get your ass in here if you want off this rock… Beckman?" The mink asked nervously and pulled out his gun. "Guys, something got Beckman." He said, looking at the unconscious or even dead body of the pink and black pig on the ground.

"Well forget him then! Let's just-" Someone started up but there came a pain filled yelp from inside.

"No, that has to be the human. All of you get out there and bring him to me alive!" Wolf growled from within as several people rushed to get out of the long shuttle. Apparently, they'd all take their chances with a vengeful alien then one moody wolf. Big mistake, especially since only two of the eight of them had guns, the rest all had bats. Begrudgingly, they all spread out and began to comb the roof.

A tan chimp anxiously held his gun way out in front of him, jumping at every shadow and nearly blew one of his buddy's heads off. He could feel the human watching him, his eyes always watching. The chimp's heart fluttered like a butterfly having a seizure. His footsteps became small and slow. He fell behind the group and that was all Relics asked for.

The human jumped from the air conditioning unit he had hid himself on top of, and landed on the terrified monkey. There wasn't a scream because he was too scared to make a noise so Relics dispatched him with ease. Relics took the gun from the downed monkey and disappeared back into the shadows with the body.

"Can you see it?" A young gecko asked as he stayed close to his body guard. He had the only other gun in the eight turned seven without their knowing. His bodyguard, a tiger, was holding a baseball bat shaped weapon was keeping him safe.

"No. Just stay close." The tiger said as he increased his pace to catch up with the others that went ahead.

When the tiger reached the back of the building with everyone else the search was over.

"Anyone find anything?" The tiger asked.

"Not a damn thing. That fat bastard probably passed out from bitching too hard. Now let's get back to the- wait. Where are Howls and Borrower?" A vulpine snapped.

The tiger's blood flushed out of his face and looked back. His gunman Howls was nowhere to be seen. But how did that happen? He didn't hear a damn thing, not a yelp, a cry, a hit, shot, nothing.

"Did anyone see anything!?" The vulpine growled but no one responded. "Fuck it! Let's just get back to the shuttle. No one leave the group this time."

The six remaining thugs made their way back to the shuttle which was still roaring with life. They just cleared the lines of air conditioning units when they saw two more bodies laid on the body of the pig.

"Leaving so soon?" A voice asked from behind the group, causing them all to jump.

The human stood before them, draped in black clothes and shrouds of shadow. There was a dark and sinister look in his eye as deep as the shit they had all landed in by coming here tonight. His pale face and albino hair was smeared red with what smelt and looked like blood. The tiger looked to the bodies and saw Howls, the gecko, was bloodied up.

"That one went down really quick. Shame you didn't help him tiger-boy." Relics said and stepped back into darkness.

"You bastard!" The tiger roared and ran into the dark.

"Burns, no!" The vulpine cried out before the tiger disappeared into the curtains of blackness.

The five listened and waited. There were a few rings of wood and metal clashing, shouts, curses, but then silence. They all waited; anxiously they waited for any signs of life from their friend. A wave of movement came from the darkness and then a bloody club launched forth and clattered on the ground. There was a chorus of gasping from the frightened five. Sure he was just one man, but he'd ghosted three of them without being touched. The human ushered fear into their hearts, and that was his key to victory.

"Who's next?" Relics asked, stepping out of his protective coverlet of shade.

The black vulpine shivered as the overpowering fear gripped him. The human's face was blood splattered, his clothes shining with a darkened red gleam, and the smell of blood seeped to the vulpine's nostrils. But the human was alone, and there were five of them left so the odds were in their favor.

"Well don't just stand there!" The vulpine shouted, brandishing his knife and led the charge. "Let's get him!"

Relics smirked as he waited for the first move to be swung. The vulpine had guts, and his cronies only started following him after it was too late to help him. Little did they know of the pain that they were about to receive.

The black fox made to stab Relics right in the gut but Relics grabbed his wrist in a blurred motion and pulled the attack away from his stomach. The fox soon began to lose balance but Relics held him up just long enough so that he could use the vulpine as a shield against a bear's bat. The hit smashed into the vulpine's side, causing him to yelp in pain and fall down.

'_One down.' _Relics said as the vulpine hit the floor, clutching his broken ribs while coughing blood.

The other three stayed back as the bear went berserk, trying with all his might to knock Relics' head clean off. It was too easy for Relics to dodge, even without his keen eyesight. The bear was slow albeit powerful, and he practically told the human where he was swinging next by his somewhat delayed charge up swings. Finally, Relics saw an opportunity and stomped the bear's knee out with a sickening crunch. The knee flew back, far beyond the limit it was supposed to bend and Relics' casually grabbed the bear's bat as he crumpled to the ground. Not wanting the bear's screams to wake the neighborhood, Relics gave the bear a "light" tap on the head to get him to be quiet.

'_That makes two.' _Relics counted in his mind as he stood waiting for the next attack.

The trio was far more cautious now after watching two of their own go down in under a minute. They all had considered running off, taking their chances with McCloud's gang they had locked downstairs with an armed robotic sentry, but Relics was standing in front of their only escape route. Eventually, Relics grew impatient and he dropped the bat on the ground.

"Alright fine, I'll make it easy for you guys." He said but even with his weapon on the ground lying at his feet, yet they still hesitated. Relics rolled his eyes. "Alright, how about I turn around then?" He suggested and did just that. He turned around, exposing himself to a relentless and savage beating. It was just the thing though, to provoke an attack.

'_Bout time, I thought I was going to have to lie on the ground with my hands on my head to get these guys to move.'_

He heard the first of the three come from his right and he waited for the sound of his footsteps to come within range. The second he guessed that they were he leaned his upper body forward, threw his leg back into the pug's stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of him. With that opponent momentarily down, Relics spun around and glared down an attack before stepping towards them.

"You know, I've been quite lenient on you assholes, even after kidnapping Lana and making her cry. On my planet men have honor and don't hide behind hostages or try to cut out a person's legs from under them while their back is turned." Relics explained, the bat lying at his feet. "On my planet, we don't believe in that saying, an eye for an eye."

The Siamese cat and the pit-bull looked at each other.

"So… you're letting us go?" The cat asked nervously.

Relics chuckled in his throat. "Normally I would, but… we're not on my planet." Relics said and slipped his left foot under the bat and tossed it up. "Are we?" He asked, holding the bat in his hands and a sinister grin across his face.

From there, it was a savage beating only seen in mobster movies. Relics didn't want to kill these guys, just teach them a bit about human retaliation. He had no technique or style when he beat them, he just swung away. Human retaliation came swift, hard, and fast, much like the bat did against their bodies until they were on the ground groaning and bitching up the place.

"Well that was surprisingly easy." Relics said to himself out loud as he dropped the bat. In truth, he expected a much better fight, but these chumps went down all too easy. The only thing that was left was to put down the pug he had almost disposed of before.

"No! Stay back! Get away!" The pug shouted and tried to crawl away but Relics ignored him and wrapped his arms around the dog's neck.

"Shh… just lay down and be a good dog. Who's a good dog? Who's a good dog?" Relics sighed into the dog's ear as he cut off all oxygen circulation to the dog's brain. Within seconds the dog was unconscious and not wanting to kill anyone tonight, Relics let go before the lack of oxygen created brain damage or even killed him.

Now that the minions were out of the way, the level was almost complete. All that was left now in this sinister game was to defeat the end boss, save the princess, go home, Lana bake a cake, and call it a night.

'_Mm, I bet Lana's cake is going to be delic- nope! Not going to finish that one. Instead I'm going to reword it before I think of me eating Lana out… FUCK! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!'_ Relics thought as he frantically tried to expel the vivid image of himself and Lana on the same bed in a very compromising position. Even in an unwanted sexual fantasy Lana looked amazingly beautiful. He could see the light reflect off her deep red eyes as pleasure consumed her.

'_Stop that! We're not done yet. Wolf still has Lana on the ship.'_ Relics thought to stop himself from thinking too deeply of Lana in bed. _'Above everything else, Lana can't be hurt.'_ He told himself as he walked slowly towards the ship. There was no way Wolf had been able to hear him since the ship's engines drowned out most noise around, so Relics still had the element of surprise.

He slowly walked around the ship to find the man he had come to fight.

"So. It has come down to you, and it has come down to me." Wolf chuckled.

Relics' body tensed when he looked up at the lupine holding his best friend on Corneria. She didn't appear to be conscious and Relics prayed she was alright but if she wasn't, he'd go Sub-Zero on Wolf's ass and pull the lupine's entire skeletal structure out from his back.

"So it has." Relics spat back, his body tense and hardly being held back from rushing the lupine. "But what happens now?"

"Now?" Wolf asked as he poked his sharpened claws into Lana's soft neck. "Now things can go two ways. The first is you try to rush me, and she dies."

Relics swallowed hard as he saw a small drop of blood drip from one of Wolf's claws that he was digging into Lana's beautiful neck.

"Don't hurt her!"

Wolf smirked. "The second option is I let her go after I kill you."

'_He's insane! The Cornerian government would come down so hard on his ass that there wouldn't be an ass left! So there'd be nothing for me to kick after!' _Relics thought to himself.

Relics opened his arms wide like he was about to give Wolf a hug. "Well you're not going to get a better shot then this."

"Probably not." Wolf said lifting up his gun he held in his left hand.

"Why though? Why do you hate me so much that you're willing to bring war to your people by killing me?" Relics asked as Wolf's gun primed.

Wolf considered just shooting Relics there and then, but something stopped him. Maybe deep down, he had to justify this to himself before he could pull the trigger. There was nothing he wanted more at the moment, then to just waste the human with a quick shot between the eyes. But still he lowered the gun a bit.

"You humans deserve to be wiped out. You weren't the only one to lose a father, and as much as our governments try to cover the little "indiscretion" up, soldiers like my father, who sacrificed everything are forgotten." Wolf declared.

Relics furrowed his brow. "You selfish bastard. I lost my father too, but you don't see me careening around, kidnapping women and killing people! You're going to get millions, if not billions of people killed if you kill me. We _will_ go to war and every death there after will be on your hands!"

"I'm willing to live with that so long as your race suffers." Wolf growled confidently, but Relics knew better. He saw Wolf's gun arm shake for a split second. He was beginning to doubt, and Relics was about to play into that.

"You coward, you're shaking." Relics chuckled. "You're just a scared little runt hiding behind a gun and a woman's skirt. I'm sure daddy is so proud of that. If you were a man and really wanted to revenge, you'd do me in with your bare hands."

Relics' taunts worked far better then he expected. He infuriated the wolf so much, that he threw away the gun, dropped Lana and charged the human. Not wanting to wind up on the ass side of an ass kicking, Relics jumped to his left and away from the lupine. The sun was starting to come up now, and the first rays of dawn barely gave enough light for the fight.

Wolf slid to a halt and bared his teeth and claws. Even from the distance of nearly twenty feet, Relics could see the bloodshot lavender eyes and he shivered as a result. In those purple eyes he saw only death.

'_This might not have been the best idea after all.'_ Relics thought as he and the twice his size wolf stared each other down.

The lupine rushed him again, this time trying to punch Relics square in the jaw. The human barely ducked his head back in time to avoid the bone breaking hit. Wolf was exceptionally strong, stronger then Bill even who was a beef-cake already.

Unlike everyone else he had fought before now, Wolf had managed to put Relics on the defensive and kept him there. His attacks were vicious, swift, and so well coordinated that Relics couldn't find an opening. Once he tried to grab and twist the lupine's arm and him into submission, but he quickly abandoned that when he couldn't overpower the wolf.

The human jumped back and rethought his strategy. Wolf had power, speed, and skill which meant Relics had to rely on his powers to win. Relics tried to focus his eyesight in but the blades in his collar started to cut his neck much to his surprise.

'_What the Hell was tha-' _Relics thought before Wolf's fist sent the human reeling to the ground. _'Oh my God no! My face! My beautiful face! The dick must die!_' The human thought as he tried to scramble up from the ground but the blow had stunned him too badly for him to get up in time.

Wolf took advantage of Relics' moment of weakness and kicked the human right in the ribs. Relics groaned, he felt like Wolf broke every rib he made contact with and he fell to the ground on his stomach. The wolf chuckled and kicked the human onto his back before attempting to squish the life out of him. Relics let out a small shout of pain and tried his best to push the leg off him, but the force behind Wolf's leg was too strong. Eventually Wolf grew tired of Relics' screams and pulled him up by the scruff of his coat and decked him again in the face. Lights, flashes of colors, and little explosions of both light and color dotted Relics' eyesight.

"You're weak, just like the rest of your miserable species." Wolf growled and kicked Relics back onto his stomach. His hands reached for Relics' neck but he instead grabbed the collar, slipped his fingers underneath it, and pulled.

Relics gasped for breath as the Suppressor cut off his air supply. He reached to pull it back but the blades started to jab and poke into his neck, disallowing his own fingers to get in.

"Without your enhancements, you are nothing compared to me." Wolf growled confidently and pulled the Suppressor back even harder. "You'll be seeing your dad soon, human." The wolf grunted in the human's ear, his face so close to his head.

'_Dumbass.'_ Relics thought before throwing his head and upper body back. The stern of Relics' skull smashed into Wolf's muzzle, instantly causing it to bleed. Wolf let the human go and clutched his bleeding nose and muzzle, allowing Relics to recover.

Small spills of blood leaked out from under his collar but the blades hadn't done more than lightly scratch his neck. His jugulars weren't damaged; otherwise the fight would have been over and he'd have started bleeding out. Not wasting any time with the insignificant amount of blood escaping his body, Relics rushed to his feet.

"You mother fuc-" Wolf spat just before Relic's foot met the side of the bent over wolf's head once more. Relics wasn't well coordinated and his kick was off target, but it still sent Wolf to the ground.

"Our fathers wouldn't have wanted this Wolf." Relics panted, trying to make the Wolf see reason. "No man wants their son to die in the pointless battle they lost themselves to."

"Speak for your own God damn self!" Wolf shouted and tried to get up but was a little lightheaded from the balance shifting kick to the right side of his cranium.

Wolf's words only served to infuriate the human. "Mine is the voice of reason!" Relics shouted, having had enough of Wolf's self-centered bullshit. "I'll make you see, even if I have to beat the bullshit out of you!"

The lupine had only a second to respond before Relics' fist reached his face. Wolf moved to make another swing just before the human's fist collided with the grey wolf's head again. The blow was so fierce that Wolf became dazed and became powerless to stop the beating.

The next moments of Relics' life were lost in a dark frenzy. He hit Wolf with every ounce of strength to make him pay for everything that happened tonight. The plot to kill him, hurting Lana, endangering so many lives, risking war that would cost millions more, all of it he had to pay for.

Relics' only stopped when his arms wouldn't move anymore and his knuckles lost most of their skin.

He breathed heavily as he looked down at the body of Wolf O'Donnell. Wolf wasn't moving but he still breathed which was all Relics was willing to do. All around him the unconscious bodies of his enemies laid still and unmoving. Lana was safe, Wolf was beaten within an inch of his life, and the sun was rising creating one of the most beautiful sunrises he'd ever seen.

The nightmare was finally over.


	17. R and R

The sun cast a red and orange bath of radiance across the Cornerian capital city. Relics basked and enjoyed the dawn's light after thoroughly earning the small rest. Around him, the unconscious bodies of his foes lay unmoving and it made the morning all the sweeter. His only regret was he didn't have something to light up, because he was told smoking on the charred bodies of his dead opponents was the most rewarding thing ever. Of course that was from an old video game that was banned in several old countries, but still, it sounded nice and enjoyable.

He didn't enjoy the sun too long because he remembered the sole reason he came to this death trap risking his life, limbs, and throat cutting. But for Lana, he'd do it all over again because she was the first person he truly connected to on this planet with only one human. He stepped over the people he had beaten and he quietly padded into the active shuttle. He found Lana on the ground, not having moved since Wolf dropped her so callously. If Wolf were still awake, he'd have beaten the shit out of him again. He almost considered beating the downed wolf when he saw the state Lana was in. Her clothes were ripped in several places, her fur matted and tangled, dried tears running down her face, and the once sleek and shiny coffee brown hair was now a complete mess.

"Lana. Lana, wake up." Relics coaxed gently to the sleeping minx while giving her a gentle shake. He would have continued if not for that innocent little mew that escaped her throat. The human almost squealed because it was so cute, but his masculine side prevented it by threatening to withhold his man-card. Instead of waking her, he gently scooped her up into his arms and started to carry her away from all this.

The sunlight and the loud purring of the shuttle did nothing to wake his sleeping beauty. She continued to sleep, her nose twitching every now and then, along with her adorable ears. Relics didn't bother to step over Wolf, and the lupine let out a groan as the wind expelled from his lungs. It was less then what he should have got, but Relics didn't want to go to Cornerian jail for feeding pieces of Wolf O'Donnell to packs of kindergarten kids during snack time.

He almost made it to the ladder when he realized he had no idea how to get her down. Lana wasn't that heavy, he guessed somewhere around one hundred and thirty pounds, give or take a couple. But there was no way he'd be able to carry them both down the ladder without one of them getting hurt. If he woke her up he'd be able to coax her down, but how could he wake something so sweetly asleep? She nuzzled him as she slept, almost signaling him to find another way without waking her.

"I still hear the shuttle." Someone whispered from inside the building. Relics was relieved to hear the voice was none other than his buddy Bill and not some of Wolf's scattered friends he might have left behind. Relics carried Lana over to an air conditioner, gently placed her down and covered his jacket over her, before walking back to the ladder just in time to grab Bill's hand.

"Hey Bill." Relics said loud enough for the screaming canine to hear him. It wasn't enough however, and Relics had to pull away from Bill's firm grasp before he pulled Relics down the hatchway. The accumulated sweat on the human's forearm allowed him to wriggle away from Bill's strong arm and grasp. "What the Hell are you doing you psycho?" Relics hissed down the hatchway.

"…Relics?" Someone else asked from below.

'_No, it's the other millions of humans on Corneria. We're all having fun with games, music, rainbow farts, and sunshine. Oh wait! I'm the only one!'_ Relics thought sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "Of course it's me."

Bill's head popped out and he looked around. He saw the sleeping minx and breathed a sigh of relief before seeing Relics. The sight of Relics smeared with blood scared the canine and he fell back onto the others below.

"Get your fat stank ass off me!" Falco griped with pain.

"Hey, at least I don't weigh as much as Slippy!" Bill scowled.

'_No one can weigh as much as that devouring behemoth.' _Relics thought and chuckled to himself.

Within moments, Bill, Falco, Fara, Miyu, and Fox were all clamored up top and around Lana. Miyu and Fara made sure the sleeping minx was alright and breathed a sigh of relief.

"She seems okay, maybe a couple of bruises, but nothing serious." Miyu said, almost purring now. She looked at Relics who was standing by away from everyone and she smiled. "You did good Relics, thank you."

'_Wow, that is the nicest thing she's ever said to me… either I'm dead or I'm going to be soon.'_ Relics thought suspiciously to himself as he nodded.

Fox chuckled to himself and looked at the human. "Keep this stuff up and she might not kill you."

"One can only hope." Relics replied and suddenly the pain came back to him. He grunted to himself and held his sore ribs as he leaned his back up against the air conditioner opposite of the one he leaned Lana up against. He kept his face stoic and refused to let the pain be evident there, but the coughing soon became a dead give away.

"Hey, are you alright buddy?" Bill asked and was quickly at the human's side.

Relics gently pushed him back. "I'm fine, just a little sore-" He managed to say before a violent spasm of coughing overwhelmed him. He slid down on the cooler and sat down, trying to recover. He closed his eyes and soon felt hands touching him.

"No, stop, I'm fine." Relics growled as best he could, but he was too battered and tired to be intimidating. He was exhausted and bruised all over. His body would need a lot of rest after all the stress it had been under. In one night he beat up nine people, tossed another out a window, dangled precariously out of the same window, got one of the worst beatings of his life, and the adrenaline that coursed through his body was now depleted. He wasn't done yet though, he still had a bit of strength left, and he forced his reserves to keep himself awake and force his body back on its feet.

"Relics." Miyu said, catching his sleepy eyes once he was standing. "Strip."

The human blinked, his eyes losing the crippling effects of weariness. "Um… n-no thank you." He said, trying to slowly inch away from the frightening lynx.

"Don't worry, it'll be over quick, she's always gentle to the first timers." Bill reassured and tried to help Relics take off his shirt.

'_What!?' _Relics thought, on the verge of breaking down and just booking it. He didn't want to be raped; he just wanted to go home.

"I need to see how badly hurt you are." Miyu said and started checking the wounds on his body.

"Oh!" Relics sighed and started to chuckle as her nimble fingers tickled his side. "That's a relief."

Miyu gave him a quizzical look. "Just what do you mean by that?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing, oh ow! Ow!" Relics said, faking pain just so she'd forget what he had said and would go back to checking out his chest.

"Hold still." Miyu scolded as she cautiously touched his bare chest. Much to her surprise, he wasn't all weird underneath. In fact, he looked like normal Cornerian who was just bald; the muscles were all the same as were the ribs. Miyu gently pressed Relics' bruised ribs and it took a while for Relics to wince. "Hmm, you haven't coughed up blood have you?" Miyu asked, to which he shook his head. "Well then they aren't broken, maybe bruised or even fractured."

'_Oh yeah, cause you've taken years of human biology and medical practice, I should instantly take your advice.'_ Relics thought sarcastically but he smiled none the less.

"Well that's good news." He said as Miyu worked her way up, thoroughly inspecting him with her sharp blue eyes. Everyone but Fara left the human to the hands of the lynx and went to go clean up the mess Relics had made with those unfortunate people. They picked up the people and hauled them into the shuttle and had to resist furthering their suffering.

"Hello." Miyu said noticing the small dried trickles of blood running down Relics' throat. "What happened here?" She asked as she tried to take off his collar but he quickly snatched her hand away.

"Please don't touch that." Relics said, holding a hand on the collar that would cut his throat if he messed with it anymore.

"Relics, I need to see the cuts on your neck, they might be serious." Miyu said making a move for his throat but the human dodged. Once again, the lynx tried but he evaded her grasp. "Damn it human, stay still!" She hissed and threw her hands around his throat, strangling him rather then helping him.

'_Don't hit a woman, don't hit a woman, don't hit a woman.'_ Relics reminded himself as he was ready to break rule one.

"Miyu! Let go of him!" Fara gasped and tried to pry the frustrated lynx off the human. "His neck is fine, I checked it myself. It's just a little scratched from when Wolf's friends dragged us into Mrs. Clemmons' room." The auburn vixen reassured.

Hissing to herself, Miyu released him. Relics panted for breath and threw the vixen a grateful look and she winked back. Then it hit him.

'_She knows my secret!' _Relics thought to himself and flushed white. _'Shit! No one is supposed to know! General Pepper is going to kill me with his armies and his battleships for sure!'_

"Fine." Miyu said haughtily and brushed herself off and then reached into her pocket. She pulled out a cell phone and dialed a twelve digit number before putting it up to her flared angry ear. "Ya Slip, bring the car up to the roof, we've got her and everyone's fine. Slippy, Slippy, SLIPPY! I don't care if you don't have your license; just bring the damn car around!"

Fara grabbed Relics' right forearm. "Alright, let's get these two home." She said and assisted Relics over to Lana. He would have protested if he wasn't so tired. Instead, he sat down by Lana and waited for the car to show up. Once it did, he, Lana, Fox, and Miyu all loaded up and left when everyone else was ready. Bill had his own car so he took Slippy, Fara, and Falco along with him to Lana's house.

Along the way, Relics took in the city as it woke up from the night before. Not that many people were out considering that at least forty-two million Cornerians all lived in this one city on Corneria. Along the way, Lana's head found its spot comfortably on Relics' shoulder and her warmth began to affect him. His eyes drooped and he didn't care what was going on or where he was, he was tired and he rested his head on Lana's. The human enjoyed two small sniffs of her wonderful scent before falling asleep.

~X~X~X~X~

"Awwww… isn't that cute?" Falco asked as he opened the door and bore witness to the two sleeping on each other.

"Awkward is more like it." Miyu said as she stared at the sleeping couple. "It was so weird on the way back and seeing those two as cozy as married couple."

Fox wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered into her ear. "Don't be jealous Miyu." He said and kissed her on the cheek, alleviating her mood greatly even though she wanted to hiss at him that she was, in fact, not jealous.

"Should we wake them up?" Bill asked.

"Probably not, humans don't look like they'd be great morning persons- oh shit!" Fara yelped as Relics yawned.

The human felt tired but not groggy like he usually felt when he woke up. In fact, he had one of the best, albeit shortest, sleeps of his life just now. He felt slightly rejuvenated and most of his injuries had stopped throbbing and turned to small aches. He sat up and flinched when he saw who he slept on.

"That's weird." He said to himself but then saw everyone staring at him and Lana. "That's even weirder. Morning, everyone." He said and got out of the car.

"Morning, Relics." Fara and Bill replied because out of everyone there, aside from Lana, they were the closest to him and most comfortable.

"Sleep well?" Falco sniggered as Relics walked around the car to them.

"Not long enough but well enough." Relics said after another yawn making the avian snigger again. "What?"

"Oh nothing, he's just being immature." Fara said and stepped on the bird's foot, silencing his quiet laughter.

'_Smart ass.'_

Relics looked around at the unfamiliar neighborhood. He recognized the city off in the background but it was a different angle from where he lived. He deduced from that logic that he was about five or even ten miles from home. That was okay because he could probably get a ride from one of these guys or Jason. Jason would ask a thousand and one questions as to how he got ten or so miles from home, but at least he'd be able to get home and in bed.

The silence that followed was fueled by the awkwardness of the situation. Some of the group had not adjusted very much to Relics and were quiet while the others were just tired, Bill in particular who almost fell asleep at the wheel on the way over. Relics shrugged and since no one was going to say anything he crawled back into the car to fish Lana out. Just as he got her seatbelt off and her into his arms, the minx finally woke.

She made a little groan followed by a tired mew and she opened her eyes. "Wha… what?" She said, growing a little worried but the familiar scents of her friends soothed her fears. She felt her body being moved and did nothing to resist because of the smell she now recognized in a heartbeat. "Relics?" She asked as Relics pulled her out of the car.

"Hey, Lana." He said cheerfully. "How'd ya sleep?"

Lana stared up at him, tears forming in her eyes. Nothing could ever express how thankful she was to him for rescuing her. He saved her from a Hell Wolf had once again subjugated her to. She tried not to cry and she looked at everyone else.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're home now, Lana." Miyu whispered and moved to comfort her friend.

"How did I- Wolf!" Lana gasped as terror overwhelmed her. The memories of what happened hours before flooded her mind. She was so scared, helpless, alone. When they started talking about killing her, she almost lost it. If not for the friends she had, she'd have given up hope.

"It's okay Lana, we took care of them." Miyu said and looked up at Relics. "Well rather, Relics did."

Lana blinked and turned her attention back to the one holding her. "Relics… you came for me?" She asked, her ears pulling back and eyes wide with wonder and adoration.

Relics just smiled timidly, turning red because of the look she was giving him. She looked so amazed and full of love that anyone with more hormones then brains would have felt a bit awkward. What engulfed him in flames was when Lana wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. She compressed his injured ribs pretty bad but he felt no pain, just searing warmth course through his body and paint him a rosy red.

'_I am surprisingly okay with this. Relics approves.'_

"Another precious moment." Falco sighed before turning around and laughing his feathered butt off as discretely as he could with Bill.

"Come on, we should all get inside before the neighbors come out." Fox said, wanting to dispel the embarrassment circling around the human.

'_Yeah let's. God forbid they don't all get their cameras out and film this.'_ Relics thought as he walked Lana into the house, still carrying her. She didn't protest, in fact she rather liked this treatment, she felt like a princess. She knew that was stupid but she didn't care, not with her knight carrying her back home.

Once inside everyone got comfortable in the coffee room. Relics on the other hand, was taking everything in. Compared to this house, his house was a bit of sticks holding up an animal skin tent. Lana was by definition, LOADED. There was nothing that her parents skipped out on; everything was probably more valuable then Relics' entire house. The curtains, the carpet, the furniture, the windows, and hell, even the walls bore a regal feeling.

The human put Lana down in a chair by herself much to her disappointment. She wanted to share the open loveseat couch with him, but instead he remained standing. He was about to make a move for the door when Fara stopped him.

"Where are you going, Relics?" She asked before he could take another step.

"I've gotta get home." He replied.

"Do you even know where home is?" Fara questioned.

"Well… no but-" He started but Fara would not have it.

"Sit, stay a while. We need to figure out everything that's happened so we can all make an alibi. And I'm sure we all want to hear how you beat Wolf this time since no one got it on camera." Fara giggled which made Relics laugh in turn.

Relics reluctantly agreed to stay and he sat down at the loveseat couch all by himself. Lana saw him sit down and recognized this as her chance. The minx perked up and looked towards her kitchen.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to get you all something to eat." She said and stood up.

"Oh Lana don't both-" Bill began but then saw the look she was giving him. It wasn't an angry look, more of a "please shut up look". The grey bulldog obeyed and understood why she wanted to get up. He gave her a sly look and winked.

As Lana proceeded towards her kitchen her heart began to flutter almost violently. She was so excited, anxious, afraid, and happy all at once it confused her greatly. She wanted nothing more but to be next to her hero and curl up against him in his arms, and now her stratagem would see that she and him got close real fast. By getting everyone something to eat, she'd easily serve everyone and take her spot down by Relics on the loveseat couch.

She grabbed a plate and placed many snacks on there, most of which she picked out hoping Relics would enjoy. She had no idea his personal tastes, so she chose lots of fruits and berries ranging all over the Lylat system.

The clever minx came back and made it just in time for Relics to hear the end of Relics' side of the story.

"-and then I finished him off by punching him in the face till he stopped moving." Relics chuckled making everyone laugh. They all hated Wolf and hearing about him in pain tickled everyone's fancy, especially after all the crap he pulled last night.

"That's something I'd have given my whole muzzle to see." Fox sighed.

"Yeah but then you'd look as ugly as me." Relics said, who was in good spirits after recanting his tale of how he chewed bubblegum and kicked ass.

"Oh come on Relics, don't be so hard on yourself." Fara said comfortingly whereas everyone enjoyed a quick laugh at Relics' joke. "You're actually kinda handsome."

Lana's left eye twitched and her hands clenched the plate she carried. Normally she wasn't a jealous person, but she'd never had anything like Relics before. But then, did she really have him? They never officially went out on a "date" date. It was more of a social acquaintance then anything, however formal. In fact, they never even kissed yet so what did that make them? Just friends? Yes, maybe that's all they were, all they'd ever be and should be. She should have realized that when he chose not to sit with her.

The minx walked back in the room and laid the tray down on the coffee table being flanked on all four of its squared sides by three couches and the one chair Lana was in. Bill cocked an eyebrow and waited for Lana to make her move, but was surprised when she didn't sit next to Relics, and instead walked back over to her single chair and sat quietly, not making eye contact with anything other than the floor.

'_She didn't sit by me… why am I so disappointed?'_ Relics thought to himself but kept his carefree poker face up.

As the hours wore on, people started heading out. Falco and Slippy decided to walk home since they didn't live too far away. They left first because they fell asleep on Lana's couch. Another hour passed before Bill decided to take Fara home after a quick power nap which he randomly decided to take on Lana's amazingly comfortable floor. At this time, the tray of fruits and berries were gone. Relics even had a few just to be polite.

"Ah." Fox sighed, weariness starting to overcome him. He was tired of waiting to be nestled up next to his sweet lynx, and his sister Christa needed to be picked up from the daycare center in another hour. Thank God Lana's friend Tiffany was so willing to watch her and take her to daycare for fifty bucks, or issues would have arisen in last night's rescue.

"It's always fun coming over here Lana." Fox said and stood up, followed by his girl. "But we need to get going." Fox said but received a small blunt slap on his back from Miyu. "That's if you're feeling alright, because we can stay as long as you need us."

"However long you need us." Miyu reaffirmed.

Lana, who said the least of everyone and that was a feat since Relics was also often the recluse of everyone's conversation, shook her head.

"No… I'm over last night." She said and stood up. She hugged Fox and Miyu greatly like she had everyone else before they left. "Thank you both so much for coming to my rescue." She said almost tearing up again. She could not think of anything that would ever payback whatever gave her friends as wonderful as the ones she now had. They all risked life and limb to save her, and fought against impossible odds.

"Anytime Lana, you're one of ours and we watch out for the family." Fox said and gave her a warm smile as she pulled away from Miyu.

'_One of the family…'_ Relics thought to himself as the strange idea played with his mind. He was also standing, ready to leave with Fox and Miyu who said they'd take him home somewhere during the four or so hours of everyone just hanging out. Then it was his turn.

The crimson eyed minx approached him and couldn't look up to his face. The beautiful red was matched only by the deep scarlet her face had now turned. She rubbed her left arm before stuttering out.

"Th-Thank you R-Relics." She said and gave him a quick and weak hug, like she was too embarrassed and withdrawn to give him a full one. This also disturbed the human with a sense of loneliness. He had no idea where these idiotic feelings were coming from but they hurt. He honestly wanted a deep and grateful hug like everyone else got, even if she was an alien.

'_What a jip.' _He thought as sourly as he could, but that was just to mask the sensation of isolation from himself. He also noticed the sad aura emanating from Lana but he shrugged it off. His job was done, he saved the girl and now he'd go home all alone, wait out the weekend in his fortress of solitude, then go to a school where he was an outcast watched from afar.

"No problem." He said, his voice dry and full of disappointment.

The human followed the arm in arm fox and lynx to the door and stepped outside the door into the cloudy world. He took one look back and saw the minx and her false look of strength that seemed ready to break any second now. It was then he knew he couldn't go; his job was not yet finished. Fox and Miyu made it to the car by the time Lana closed the door.

"Relics, ya coming?" Fox asked from the inside of his car. "Relics?"

"No." He replied firmly. "I think I'll hang out here a little while longer."

"What?" Fox blurted out and got back out of his car. "But how will you get home?"

Relics looked at the vulpine and shrugged. "I can always call Jason; he'll give me a ride."

Fox walked right up to Relics, making him feel uncomfortable. The fox gave him a very serious look as if he was trying to read his mind and see what the homosapien was up to. Relics was starting to feel rather intimidated but he held his ground. He just took on almost a dozen Cornerian thugs, he could handle another if need be. Fortunately however, Fox just nodded.

"Alright, but treat her right because you know what Miyu will do if she hears otherwise." Fox said with a small smirk.

Relics smirked back and nodded. "You don't have to tell _me._"

With that hanging in the air, Fox walked back to his car and after explaining to Miyu what Relics was doing, he and she drove off. Relics could have sworn he saw Miyu give him a suspicious look as they drove off but he figured he imagined it. He turned around and walked back up to Lana's large front porch and paused before he knocked.

He was nervous; he'd finally be alone with Lana who he had grown so close to in just a short amount of time. He worried how she'd see this, if she'd deny him entrance or if she'd let him in and think he wanted to do something he didn't know if he was ready for yet. He'd had sex before, several times with his ex but she was a human. Janelle had skin, Lana had fur, Janelle had fingerprints, Lana had pads, Janelle had a vestigial tailbone, and Lana had a whole tail.

'_Similarities minimal, differences great, want high, lust questionable. Will I wake up clean, or will I wake up covered in the sweat of a cute alien minx?'_ Relics pondered with himself just as it started to downpour with rain.

Tensely, the white haired human lifted his hand and knocked three loud raps on the heavy and thick door. No going back now. He waited with a bead of sweat crawling down his neck and prayed he was making the right choice.

The door opened slowly and Relics saw the puffed eyes of a recently crying minx. At that moment he knew he made the right choice and he smiled.

"Relics… wh-what are you doing here? Didn't Fox and Miyu drive off just now?" She asked, almost quivering with excitement.

"They did yeah… but I thought if you still wanted some company I'd stay longer." Relics said and before Lana could respond he quickly added. "Or if you're busy I'll catch a ride back to my place and-"

"No! Err, no, no." Lana said, trying to recover from her over stimulated first denial. "No, I'd love if you stayed longer." She said and opened the door wide for him to enter. "Hurry in and get out of the rain."

Relics' heart was so loud he was sure Lana could hear it as it hammered furiously to escape his ribcage. He stepped in the warm house out of the rain and stood in the entryway awkwardly. He was a guest and he didn't want to overuse or overstay his welcome. The equally excited and angst filled minx closed the door and she too stood around not knowing what to do. Then she saw the state of him. It took her till now to realize how filthy and bloody he was because she was too busy sneaking quick looks at his handsome face. She didn't care if he was dripping with mud and ruining the carpet underneath him though, but she wouldn't refuse him a shower if he wanted one.

"Sorry I'm so filthy." Relics said sheepishly when he noticed Lana checking him out, at least that's what he hoped she was doing and not checking him out in the other sense.

Lana smiled and shook her head. "Oh no Relics, I should say sorry. I don't mind at all, however, the least I could do is offer you a shower and a change of clothes if you wish. You don't have to if you don't feel comfortable though." She added quickly in an effort to lessen any offense that she might have made.

Relics smiled back and nodded. "Th-That would be great actually. I probably reek of something awful and I'd hate to stink up your home."

"I didn't notice any bad smells." Lana said.

'_Hmm, at least my musk doesn't reek of ass then. Or she's lying.' _He thought as they shared a smile.

"Here, let me sh-show you the bathroom." She said and with nervous paws she grabbed Relics left forearm and led him upstairs, both teenagers blazed with a red as bright as fire. Lana had the advantage because her tan fur covered it mostly, but Relics was pale and the slightest color showed like a stain on white sheets.

Once at the top of the stairs, she led him to the bathroom and brought him a change of clothes. She left him to go take her own shower and he took the quickest and most efficient shower of his life, making sure to clean every inch of himself and cleanse the dirt, blood, and odors.

When he got out he now wore a pair of non-constricting black shorts that would hide nothing if a certain _something_ decided to crash the party, a loose grey T-shirt, and a fresh pair of black socks.

'_God help me if I get a saluting soldier. I'll execute him if he ruins this night.'_ Relics thought darkly about his own junk.

He walked back downstairs and to his surprise, found Lana hanging out in the living room all clean. The living room had only one couch but a large TV. The room everyone was in earlier was the coffee room, one of many rooms that were just there to entertain guests and were luxuries that Lana's parents could afford and then some.

"You look good, Relics." Lana said now in her own clothes, a pair of somewhat loose pajama pants and an even tighter T-shirt. It probably wasn't that small of a shirt though. It was all probably her amazing rack that stretched it out.

'_Don't look at those sweater-melons or God help you I'll kick your ass!'_ Relics threatened to himself.

"Thanks, you look lovely." He said trying his damndest not to go red or get hard.

"Thank you." Lana said and stood at the far end of the couch awkwardly. "So what do you want to do?"

Relics shrugged. "I don't know… we could watch a movie."

Lana grinned and nodded. "Oh yes, we could do that. We've got hundreds!" Lana said and moved to a closed cupboard next to the large LCD-3D TV.

'_Oh dear God no!'_ Relics thought. He'd seen a Cornerian movie before, a new one that was out in theaters but he got to see it in the comfort of his shelter because being the only human within a million or so light-years had its perks. Cornerian A movies were human B movies. The acting was terrible, the special effects over used, and the plots were all clichéd.

Before Lana even touched the cupboard she stopped. "We could also watch a human movie if you have any."

Relics smiled. "Great! I got dozens on my MP- oh yeah…" He said when he searched through his pocket but remembered he let Fara borrow it.

"Is this what you were looking for?" Lana asked with a sly grin as she held his MP64 player in her hand.

"How'd you get that?" Relics asked.

"Fara left it behind, she always drops things from her pockets into the couch. I'm surprised you leant anything to her at all." Lana giggled.

'_I'll say. Freaking klutz.'_

Relics walked over to the minx and took the device and suddenly realized the downfall to the device. If they watched a movie off it then they'd have to snuggle up close so they could both watch it. The projector on the MP64 player was crap and was like a razor thin TV screen that you had to be directly in front of so the colors didn't darken or lighten (depending on your angle).

"Um… actually we'd have to be _real_ close to watch a movie on this." Relics admitted bashfully as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Oh… well, it's okay with me." She said, her ears twitching in a rather cute way.

'_Holy crap I'm getting laid! Wait no! NO! Don't think that! She's your friend, and friends don't let friends nail them until the bed rocks and consequently breaks. …Then again… I haven't been with a woman in months and- NO! STOP THINKING LIKE THAT! THINK LIKE THAT AGAIN AND I'LL CUT IT OFF MISTER!'_

Relics bit the inside of his cheeks. "Okay, I'll set it up." He said.

"I'll go get the blankets." Lana said and padded off to fetch some.

'_Blankets!? BLANKETS!? Oh God! Blankets are God's kryptonite! He can't see through those! What if… what if she tries to feel up on me like Janelle did when we were under a blanket? If she touches me there I might not be able to control myself. I mean it's been so long, I crave women and their mystical, wonderful pleasures. Oh shit, NO!'_ Relics thought and quickly jumped to the couch and tried to hide himself. It was awkward work and I'll spare you the details, but he managed to keep "himself" from being seen just as Lana came back with one large blanket.

"Sorry, we're all out of spares at the moment, this one's from my bed." She said, placing it on the couch between them. A heavenly smell filled Relics' nose and mind.

"I can tell, it smells as lovely as you do." He said without thinking. In truth, he was acting on auto pilot when he said that. If he had any control of his hormone drunken mind, he'd never have said that which made the minx burn red and giggle so innocently.

"Thank you, Relics." She said, covering her mouth and muzzle.

The human tore his eyes from her and stared at the projected screen about as big as a twelve inch TV. The movie he picked out was one of his favorites from the "golden age" of filming. It was a very old and very primitive movie with hardly any special effects but it had a charm to it that made it last through the seven hundred years since it was first released.

"Alright it's going." Relics said and held the MP64 player so that Lana wouldn't have to move so close to see. "Just move close enough until you can see."

The minx nodded and picked the blanket up. She sat down on the middle cushion and could see just fine, but the sneaky minx wouldn't admit it. Instead she scooted closer and closer until they were all but touching. Just an inch of air separated the two.

'_You sneaky girl you.'_ Relics thought, enjoying the personal closeness that he hadn't had in what seemed like ages.

As much as he tried to refuse the idea, he was not made of stone. It had been such a long time since he knew the touch of another without feeling scared because it was an alien. He longed to love and be loved by another but he always had his guard up. He'd lost so much and wanted to lose nothing more. That was why he fought so hard to get Lana back, she was the first thing he'd made a connection to in over a year, his first break from the dark lack of companionship that encompassed him since his world was invaded.

"So uh…" Lana said as she threw the blanket over herself and Relics. "What are we watching?"

"An old movie from the golden age of human filming." Relics replied, trying to resist the warmth splashing from Lana onto him. It was like her warmth was beckoning him to her, it was incredibly difficult to resist. "It's called Star Wars, episode four; A New Hope."

"Sounds exciting." Lana meowed. "But why are we starting episode four? Why not the first one?"

"Trust me; starting here is the only way to go. This one came first in the whole series though and it only improves the story." Relics explained.

The movie began and Relics had to read off the long and annoying word scroll at the beginning because it wasn't translated for Lana. Over time Lana had maneuvered herself closer and closer to Relics, and when they got to the part with the space battle, she pressed her body against his finally. She actually enjoyed the movie despite its age, lack of Cornerians, and bad special effects. The Force was something that intrigued her and by the end she was holding Relics' arm tightly, praying that the Death Star wouldn't blow up the Rebel base.

'_Aw yeah, here comes the- wait… is she touching me?' _Relics finally realized after a half an hour of her holding him. _'How did I miss that!? You'd think I'd notice if a warm fur-ball was holding on to me like I was her boy… friend. …Oh wow, am I really her… is she my… no! Star Wars has that affect on the ladies, that's all! Just shut up and enjoy the movie!'_

~X~X~X~X~

"Wow." Lana said once the movie was over. Her tone made Relics pause for a moment.

"So… how was it?" Relics asked, hoping he didn't pick a movie she only sat through just to be polite.

The red eyed minx took a minute to answer but finally, after many suspense filled seconds. "That was _amazing_! I can't believe how good that was! It was so mystical, so different, so imaginative!" She said, becoming excited. "That ending was so good!"

'_Star wars, you've done it again.'_ Relics thought contently to himself.

"I'm glad you enjoyed… so what now?" Relics asked.

Lana looked outside through the windows. It was really dark out because of the black rain clouds gushing out rain. As much as she loved watching that movie she needed a break, and she sensed Relics was feeling a bit tense with her holding him and pressed up against him. Thankfully his stomach growled.

"I know what we'll do; let's go make the hero a nice lunch!" Lana said and stood up, letting their combined warmth out of the shared blanket. It was still warm outside the blanket but he missed their warmth the made and shared together.

"Oh, you don't have to. I'm not that hungry." Relics said as just as his stomach growled again, effectively vetoing his vote.

"Sure you're not." Lana said and rolled her eyes. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "Come on, I'll make you a hero sandwich."

'_FUCK YEAH!'_

When Lara said hero sandwich, Relics had no idea that a hero sandwich came with extra meat, extra cheese, and extra vegetables all artistically woven into a sandwich of legends. One bite and Relics was hooked despite his flippant like/dislike of Cornerian food. He couldn't get enough and only because his stomach wasn't big enough, did he stop.

After a quick lunch, the duo spent the entire stormy day inside, playing games she taught him, listening to music, talking for hours at a time, watching TV, sharing a warm dinner, and watching Star Wars five which was Relics' favorite. It became Lana's favorite right after they finished watching it, although she felt bad for Luke whereas Relics didn't.

'_It's what he get's for slipping his sister the tongue.' _He thought to himself so not to ruin episode six.

Like everyday, the night finally came. Relics was now faced with two options, either he called Jason and got a lift home, or he stayed the night at Lana's house, alone, unsupervised, and uninterrupted. He feared what might happen if he stayed the night, what he might do and jeopardize this wonderful friendship. He'd never been able to have this much fun with someone for so long, and eventually he had forgotten all about the differences that separated their species. To him, she was his best friend, and only true friend that he knew of.

"It's getting late." Relics pointed out, looking at the clock that now read eight o'clock.

Lana nodded. "Yes, it is." She said feeling awfully sleepy.

"Maybe I should get going?" Relics asked as he just sat there with Lana resting on his shoulder. They'd just got done watching episode five and were just sitting there enjoying each other's company.

"Well… you don't have to leave. We've got plenty of rooms to let." Lana said, throwing the offer on the table in the form of a floating option.

'_This is it buddy, the ultimatum. Three things can go down tonight. First is you get a ride home, sleep alone and rub one out in the shower at home like a pathetic loser. Second, you stay here, sleep peacefully, wake up, and have breakfast with Lana in the morning. Third, you catch furry fever. What's it going to be?'_

"If your parents won't mind…" Relics finally said, once again beat red from how restless he was.

"They won't be home for another month." Lana shrugged. "I'm sure they won't mind."

'_Holy crap that was practically an invitation into those panties! And I think she's rubbing us now- yup! I felt her thumb move. Shit! Am I ready for this? It's not that different but it feels… wrong almost. I really like her but she's not human! She's an alien, born on a different world and looks so different. I'm starting not to care but… I don't know.'_

Relics yawned normally, like there wasn't an inner turmoil warring in his mind.

"Well, alright then. I'll crash here tonight."

Lana smiled to herself. She was nearly going into cardiac arrest but she had achieved what she wanted. The gentle hybrid did not want to be left alone tonight in this big empty house, not after all that happened last night. She needed another person in the house tonight, just in case she needed him. And deep down, she felt that she had to repay him for all that he had done for her, anyway he wanted.

"I-I'll show you to your room then." She said and once again led him upstairs by the forearm, although her hands were much closer to his this time.

'_Okay… okay, calm down tiger. You're sleeping in separate rooms tonight.'_ Relics thought to himself, somewhat relieved that things weren't going to get physical.

There was a rip right down the middle of his mind. Half of him wanted and even lusted after the minx, and the other knew it was wrong for him to take her. Her sweet body, provoking bust, well toned rear, and those eyes that had enchanted him since they met, were all teasing the human. Lana had fox like ears, a feline face, fur all over her body, and a long bushy tail reminding him that she wasn't like him; that they was different. It was unnatural, different, and probably immoral. After all, back home, any relationship between a human and something not human was looked down upon for very obvious and understandable reasons. But Lana wasn't something, she wasn't an animal, she was a person.

Could something be wrong about two persons loving each other, even if they're different?

The minx showed Relics his own room which was one of four guest rooms. The room was large and spacious with a very cozy feeling despite it being a guest room. Lana's room was right down the hall and he watched her as she walked to her room. Before she closed the door, she looked back at him and whispered.

"If you need me for… for anything," She said not looking him in the eyes, "you can come see me about it…. Goodnight, Relics."

"Goodnight, Lana." He replied softly, trying not to look too deeply into what she meant.

Relics stepped into the guest room, content with how the night had ended. With the door shut the door behind him he and cast off his shirt because he hated sleeping with one on. As he laid in bed he enjoyed the sound of the rain. Now that Lana was out of the room and the near painful sexual tension was removed, his mind had finally cleared. He was nearly about to doze off when suddenly a bright flash followed by a loud crash almost caused him to fall out of bed.

"Fucking lightning." He growled to himself and threw his pillow over his head to drown out the loud booms. The lightning refused to let him sleep and the long pauses between the crashes just tormented him.

Just as Relics thought the lightning might have ended, he heard three little knocks. But then it dawned on him, lightning didn't make knocking noises. People knocking on his door made knocking noises.

'_Okay, play it cool old boy. She's just probably checking on you to make sure you're okay.'_ He reassured himself as he got out of bed to answer the door.

The human opened his door just as another loud boom shook the house and caused Lana to leap into his chest, completely terrified.

"Wha- Lana!?" Relics gasped.

"Relics, please, I don't want to be alone tonight." She pleaded, her face buried deep into his chest as she clung to him like a frightened animal. "Will you please sleep in my room tonight?"

'_SAY WHAAAAAT!?'_ Relics screamed in his head so loud that his mental voice actually cracked. He was nearly on the verge of having an aneurism. This was it, he was in, and there was no going back even if he wanted to._ 'Similarities minimal, differences great, want high, lust questionable. Will I wake up clean, or will I wake up covered in the sweat of a cute alien minx?'_

"Sure Lana, whatever you want." He said accepting his offer skittishly.

For the third time that day, Lana grabbed Relics but this time she took him by the hand and escorted him to her bedroom. She led him into her room and quickly crawled into her bed. Relics smiled to himself and shut the door behind him with his foot.


	18. My Angel in the Night

The young man's heart thundered in his ears louder then the thunder in the sky ever could. His mouth had run dry as the consequence of how excited but scared he was. He had had sex before, but never was it this nerve torturing. He was eager and fearful; in fact he was down right terrified. All the moisture from his mouth went to his palms and he wiped it off on his shorts without thinking.

God he was nervous. If another human knew about this, he'd never recover from the shame and yet he was still walking over to her bed. His hands touched the soft, sweet smelling sheets they had shared a few minutes ago when they watched a movie together, closely snuggled up. Relics snuck in under the covers, trying to make his presence as hidden as possible and as far away from Lana. He liked Lana, he even loved several things about her, but he was only half ready for this. In body he would have taken her for the asking, but in mind he was too conflicted.

On one hand, he hadn't been with a woman in what felt like ages, but to a hormone drunk teenager who was programmed to think about sex every seven seconds, a few months felt like decades. Shamefully taking care of himself in the shower was not enough, if only a small placebo compared to the real thing. He wanted to touch a woman, explore her curves and body, taste her, hear her sounds of delight and pleasure, then finally submerge himself into her world of delight she graciously allowed him to experience.

Yet on the other hand, a fear fueled by hate, suspicion, and paranoia was waging a subzero blizzard on his chances. If people found out about what they were possibly about to do, there'd be a shit-storm of political and public backlash. He was never barred from forming an intimate relationship with a Cornerian, but that was because it wasn't even considered he would. Then the people who hated his kind for whatever reasons, would come after him and especially Lana. They already had before and this time they'd be without mercy.

Relics sighed. "S-So… your bed's nice."

'_You know, threatening you has lost all it's weight.'_ Relics thought to himself when he realized that he was not thinking before he spoke, like when he first met Lana. The memories of how skittish he was and how wonderfully violated he felt afterwards tickled his mind.

"Thank you." Lana mewed out before another crash of lightning frightened the already startled minx. She winced and trembled as she waited for the thunder to silence. Finally the echoing boom faded into the heavy rain beating against the large and all but empty house. "It's new and it doesn't even squeak yet."

'_Oh we're going to make it squeak… where the Hell did that come from? Oh yeah, my tightening pants.'_ Relics realized as he couldn't stop himself from getting a little inflexible. Even thinking about Cornerian pigs and toads in bikinis wasn't doing it, and that was his failsafe. They usually just turned into a group of Lana's and started making out with one another.

Time passed and Relics finally managed to keep himself from giving into his dark thoughts. He gradually softened and he was off the subject of making Lana's bed squeak.

"So are you okay?" Relics asked which he rolled his eyes to in response to being so corny.

"I feel a lot better with you around." Lana admitted, her tail swishing with joy and accidently tapping Relics on the leg. "Oh, sorry Relics."

Relics' jaw clenched and he could not believe what was happening yet again. She barely touched his thigh and he was once again as hard as a rock. "No problem." He said through his teeth.

"Sorry there isn't that much room, it's only a queen sized." Lana said and curled up on her side to give Relics more room.

A large smash of thunder and lightning shook the house and the minx. The human was too wrapped up in his own mind trying to get his reigns back to notice. The tempest didn't bother him one bit, the thoughts of violating Lana and their friendship however, did.

"I'm scared, Relics." Lana mewed as she clenched her sheets tightly, almost tearing through them with her claws.

"It's just an atmospheric discharge. Nothing to get too worried over." Relics said right before another flash of light and roar of thunder threatened to break the house. Without another word, Lana was clinging to Relics' side, trembling as she held on his arm for dear life. Her face was buried in his arm and he could feel tears fall onto his skin.

'_No! Get off! I just stopped thinking about sexy things!'_ Relics whined in his head as all progress he made to sooth his libido was now gone. Sighing mentally, Relics laid there, waiting for Lana to calm down and come back to her senses. It took a while but she eventually realized what she was doing and quickly shifted away.

"I'm sorry, Relics; I don't know what came over me." She whispered and curled up in fetal position on the edge of the bed. The human couldn't help but feel sorry for her, and his empathy distracted his urges.

"Don't worry about it, Lana." Relics replied. The human rolled onto his side and reached out for the quivering minx even though he made no prior decision to do so. His hand touched her freezing shoulder, almost immediately she stopped shaking and heat began restoring to her body.

'_Aw screw it; we're already committed so just go for it. If she doesn't claw your eyes out then good, if she does, then at least try and cop a feel so you can think about how good it felt while you-'_

"…Relics?" Lana asked before she felt his body press up against her. She stifled a gasp as his arm went over her and embraced her around her waist. He was bigger than her and that made it easier for him to encompass her, sharing his warmth. Lana swallowed hard because of how anxious she was, but she still loved it. Relics was everything she was looking for in a man and she learned this in such a short time. He was funny, he genuinely cared for her and her safety, he was compassionate, his scent made her dream of flying, he had a lot of talent, they could talk for hours about nothing, and he was even damn good looking.

Another clap of thunder rocked the outside world but Lana took almost no notice of it. For the first time since the storm started, she felt safe. A small purr began inside the minx and only grew when Relics held her hand. He stroked her hand with his thumb and gently caressed hers in his.

"You have an adorable purr, Lana." Relics laughed quietly as he enjoyed the little motor in the minx. '_Such a cute little pussy… cat! Pussy cat! Not the other-'_

"Thank you." Lana said, smiling to herself as she beamed red. "I'm sorry if it's keeping you awake, I can't control it sometimes."

"No, no. I like it; and I like when you're happy." He said as he watched her ears twitch because of the storm outside. She wasn't scared of it anymore, but she was noticing the loud claps of the discharging storm. It made the human happy knowing that his presence was not being interpreted the wrong way and that Lana wasn't angry or upset with his sudden advances. To him, he was just consolidating a friend who had had the worst day of her life, so long as his dirty mind didn't screw things up par usual.

It was a comforting sound he had to admit: listening to her purr. It made him feel very warm but not hot. As he rubbed her hand with his thumb, he noticed just how soft and silky she was. His mind became intoxicated by her lovely scent, mixed with the soothing sounds of her purr; it felt like he was in heaven.

"Relics? Do you regret coming to Corneria?" Lana asked out of the blue in hopes she could distract herself from how bothered she was feeling.

She only prayed that human noses weren't as strong as Cornerians', so he wouldn't sniff out just how "bothered" she was. Just in case, she closed her legs tightly. The feel of his larger body encompassing her, while being so sweet and gentle was causing her mind that was full of teenage urges, to think of Relics in a light she was sure he wouldn't approve of. She kept repeating to herself that she shouldn't think like that, but at the same time wanted to think those thoughts. The minx owed her life to him, and she deeply wanted to repay him for risking his own life to save her, by any means necessary.

"I admit there are… times that I'd rather be other places." Relics admitted. "However, there are things that make it all worth it."

"Like?" Lana purred.

"Well the people are mostly all nice." Relics chuckled with the giggling minx, having barely stopped himself from saying you.

"At least you know how to deal with those "other" people." She sighed. "Do you think it was right to leave them all there though?"

'_What do you care!? After all the things they did to you?'_

Relics tensed a bit. "Well I think so, yeah. I mean, after all they did to you… Lana? Are you alright?" He asked when Lana began to shake a bit.

"I'm fine." She lied as her ears flattened while she tried to force the bad thoughts away.

At such a close proximity, Relics could instantly pick up on any subtle changes in the minx. He knew he was touching an open wound but this was the first step to get it to heal. Pretending it all didn't happen and that it was all just a bad dream wouldn't cut it. She didn't need a placebo, she needed an actual treatment. One way or another he'd help her through this.

"Lana," he said with a deep voice that touched her deepest emotions, "you can talk to me. I'm here for you."

It seemed like hours before Lana spoke again. For awhile, Relics thought she ignored him and fell asleep just so she could avoid talking about it. But finally, after enough time was given for her to muster her courage, she opened up.

"Alright Relics… I'm not okay. I'm not okay at all." She admitted as she clenched her hand, that Relics was stroking, into a fist that. "Wolf and his friends… they said so many mean things to me. They touched me all over, tore my clothes, and made me feel so dirty. Just before you came they were talking about… taking turns with me. It was so terrifying hearing what they were going to do to me in the greatest detail. I tried not to cry, but he thought of being repeatedly raped and then have my throat cut-" The minx cried but soon choked up.

The human's jaw clenched so hard that it threatened to crush his teeth together. Lana's tears were like daggers in his heart, and right now he wanted nothing more but to be locked in a room with Wolf and his friends for five minutes with his Suppressor off. With his abilities at maximum, he'd leave quite the mess off all of them on the floor, walls, and ceiling. He'd inflict pain to every inch of them for touching Lana and putting her through all that shit. One thing was for sure; none of them had better show up for school on Monday if they know what's good for them.

'_Dirty pigs! They're lucky I didn't know or I'd have ripped out their guts with my bare hands and make them eat them.'_

"I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner." Relics whispered while hugging her tightly. "If I'd known what they had been thinking, I'd have killed them."

"Well… I'm glad you didn't then." Lana said which confused the human. "If you did there'd be such a backlash and you'd be taken away… away from me…."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good." Relics sighed and discreetly sniffed her tantalizing hair.

'_Yeah, cause if we were deported you couldn't be a creeper now could you?'_ Relics scorned himself all the while relishing in her amazing aroma. _'You are one sick puppy self.'_

"Nope." Lana said much happier then before which made the human smile. "If you left I wouldn't be able to thank you correctly." She finished just as her tail twitched awkwardly and wound up rubbing Relics' waist.

'_Okay, calm down soldier. It was an accident, no reason to get a hard- SHE DID IT AGAIN! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS! We must stop self from poking her!'_ Relics thought frantically as he did everything within his willpower to stop himself from growing too stiff and start jabbing into the unsuspecting minx. That would just end this precious little moment like a cold wet towel fresh out of a hot shower. Luckily he did manage to control his raging hormones and kept himself at bay by giving himself a cramp in his leg. He almost cried it hurt so badly, but at least he didn't ruin the moment.

"And we wouldn't have been able to spend today together." Relics added just before the conversation died.

"Or tonight." Lana said in such a strange way that Relics' curiosity immediately picked up on it. What did she mean by that? What was she planning? Were they going to free the beast in his pants? If so, were they ready to accept the consequences? Would making love to a Cornerian betray his race and father?

"He, he." Relics chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I'd hate for you to be alone on a night like this." He said after another attack on the house from the raging storm outside.

"I would too." Lana said and then she did something that almost made Relics release right there because of how high strung he was.

The feline's hand opened up and her nimble fingers slipped through his own and waited. Not knowing what else to do, instinct kicked in and Relics closed his fingers into Lana's and they were now holding hands. Just holding her hand was a pleasured torture. He felt every molecule of his member pulse with a balanced blend of lust, energy, and rebellion. It didn't care about the fur, the ears, the muzzle, the eyes, the tail, the difference of species, it just wanted to be let loose and fuck. The equilibrium in Relics' mind began to shift from neutral to maximum overdrive. If he didn't do something soon, he'd make his move on Lana and her pants.

"How did they catch you though? You must have been able to fight back or run." Relics said, hoping Lana's story would sidetrack his raging libido and bring him back down to Earth, or Corneria, or whatever.

"At first I ran." Lana began slowly, clenching the human's hand a bit tighter. "They were too slow but their car wasn't. They quickly caught up to me and two of Wolf's friends attacked me. I kicked Panther right in the balls and punched the other in the throat before they had a chance to strike. Those two went down no problem."

'_That's my girl!'_

"But then Wolf and the rest caught up." She said and her tone turned bitter. "Wolf caught me off guard and slapped me to the ground. Before I could get up twenty thousand volts of electricity were pumped into my body. When I woke up Wolf tried to scold me but I spat in his face. That was when they decided to gag me."

"Wow." Relics breathed, his loins once more subdued and calmed. "Not many people have that fire like you do. You are incredible, Lana."

"Not as incredible as you though, Relics." She said and her thumb started to stroke his hand. "You took out nine guys all on your own without your enhancements."

It was a good thing (but also a bad thing) that she mentioned his enhancements because that slight rubbing from her thumb almost had made him lose control. Everything she did to him sent out rivets of pleasure throughout his entire nervous system. The thrill of the danger, the unknown, and the thoughts of sex served as a drink too strong for the primitively encoded young man. The cold shiver of shock that she launched through him by revealing she knew his secret killed his struggle.

"You… you know?" Relics gulped, his body subconsciously trying to back away.

"Yes, I do." The feline replied and held his hand too tightly for him to escape. "Wolf told me all about you and your genetic alterations. He wanted to scare me; he wanted me to see you as a monster… a freak… something that was too dangerous to be around."

'_And I bet he did.'_ Relics sighed sadly to himself in his inner thoughts.

Lana let Relics go before she rolled around to face the human. He was too worried what she'd say next that he couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Relics?" She said when he wouldn't look at her. Lana furrowed her brow and reached for his face. Her soft, warm, padded hands grazed his smooth skin and she made him look at her. Even in the darkness she could see those gleaming silver gems and became lost in them, as he did in her deep red eyes. "I know you'd never do anything to cause me harm and I don't care if you're… different. You're my friend, and you're very special to me."

The two became poor captives of the moment, even the storm had calmed for this one brief instant. They didn't think, they only acted. Voices in both their minds told them that this wasn't right, that this was wrong, but then why couldn't they stop? Relics could feel her body heat emanating from her face now, they were so close. She smelled amazing and her face was so pretty in the low lighting.

'_My heart is going to explode! Am I really doing this? Is this going to happen?' _He wondered just as their lips were about to close the already tiny gap between them. They were so close he could reach out with his tongue and taste her.

A quick sudden burst of thunder caught the two off guard and they jumped back with fright. The human blinked rapidly, realizing where he was and what almost happened.

_'FUCK YOU NATURE! YOU DIRTY WHORE! …Like I'm one to talk though.'_

"What was that?" Lana asked as she sat up in her bed, her ears careening left and right looking for the sound again.

"It was just the storm." Relics said, trying to recapture the moment but then it resounded, this time louder. "Then again… sounds like someone is… knocking." He said and flushed white.

"Oh shit!" Lana whispered and quickly jumped out of her bed. "What do we do? What do we do!?"

Relics jumped out of the bed as well. "Just calm down Lana, we don't need to panic. It could have been the wind making something hit the door."

"No, it was someone at the door." Lana said and quickly threw on a robe, covering her amazing body much to the lusting young man. "J-Just stay here, I'll be right back. It's probably just Fara or Miyu. I'll send whoever it is away and then… we'll get back to where we were." She said before running a finger up his bare chest to his lips.

Relics made a somewhat goofy grin that was not seen thanks to the bad lighting.

'_God damn it! Your shot for getting some is disappearing! I can literally feel my chances shrinking… oh wait that's just me. Get her back in the bed and back into your pants or our junk is going to jump out of our shorts and bitch slap us! It's already sent the preemptive warning!'_

"Well hurry back, the bed's getting cold."

Lana giggled and smiled brightly. "Okay I'll be really quick." She said and quickly padded off. As she left, Relics watched her go. The little skip that he knew he saw just made watching her go all the more enticing.

'_When she get's back, I'm going to do things to her that will make it hard for the both of us to walk straight… any gay in that? No? I hope not. Aw well fuck it, I'm getting laid with a chick tonight anyways. You can't weird me out now gay thoughts! Not tonight!'_ Relics shouted triumphantly only in his mind.

To pass the time Relics started looking around Lana's room. Since it was dark he felt like an idiot for trying to check her room out and he instead tried to navigate back to the bed. Instead he bumped into Lana's desk with his foot and it felt like he might have stubbed his big toe.

Muttering every curse of every language he knew, Relics then proceeded to the bedroom door. He reached for the handle, ready to admit his feelings for her the second she got back, but all his happiness was frozen over by a voice he was not familiar with. The voice was strong and masculine, the complete opposite of Lana's.

"Boy I'm tired." The man said with a stifled yawn seasoning his voice.

"Mom, dad, I'm so glad you're back!" Lana's voice came out rather loudly which was a signal for Relics. The sounds of footsteps coming closer only furthered his critical overload.

'_AAAAAAHHHHHHH!'_ Relics shrieked in his head and nearly soiled himself. He wanted to scream so badly but Death had a grip on his throat and he couldn't breathe or speak. If he had screamed though, there was no telling what Lana's parents might do to him.

"Yes I know Lana, you don't have to shout." The masculine voice laughed.

"Darling, do you smell that?" A feminine but older sounding woman's voice asked.

'_OH FUCKING FUCKBALLS WITH- OH FUCK!'_ Relics panicked and started to frantically look around the room for a place to hide. He ran to the bed and got halfway in before deciding that was just plain dumb trying to hide under the covers. He fell out of the bed and cursed silently, unlike the loud thud that came from him hitting the floor.

"What was that?" Relics heard Lana's father say with a slight growl.

"What? That noise? Oh it was probably just a far off thunder clap." Lana reassured and made a mental note to hit Relics on the head for nearly blowing their cover. "And as for that smell, it's probably just one of my friends that came over earlier. Fox, Miyu, and the rest of the gang came over to visit me and keep me company."

"Oh God! Fara? I love that girl and all but she probably ate everything in the kitchen. How she doesn't get fat is beside me. It's a good thing we came home then, or you'd have nothing to eat. My poor little girl would have starved to death!" Lana's mother coddled while pinching the minx's cheek.

'…_Threesome? NO! Now's not the time idiot! Find an escape pod quick!'_

"I _can_ go shopping mom." Fara replied slightly moody because of her mother's babying. She was sixteen but in her mother's eyes she was still just a little kitten.

'_Think man think!'_ Relics yelled at himself and quickly threw one of the blankets back on the bed but before he could get his intelligence back online, his stupidity had him somehow get caught in the second blanket and trip. His blunder caused the lamp by Lana's bed to fall and resound with a high pitched crash of breaking glass.

"Now I know that wasn't thunder." Lana's father growled. "Who's in your room young lady?"

"Daddy, no one-" Lana began but was cut off.

'_SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!'_ Relics thought as he struggled to get up and escape. He didn't know how but that window looked pretty nice and he could survive a two story fall no problem. Sad thing was, he was too tightly constricted in the blanket to get off the ground.

"I think I figured out just what that smell is dear." Lana's father grunted.

"And what might that be?" Lana's mother asked, her own feline growl now audible.

The door to Lana's room opened and the light turned on. There on the floor next to Lana's bed was the human exchange student with one of Lana Tress' blankets draped over him. He stared in horror at the angry faces of Lana's parents and didn't know what to do. Right about now he was really, really,_ really _wishing he had his shirt on.

Lana's father began walking over to Relics, his deep red eyes just like Lana's now filled with anger and hatred. His muzzle was bared and his red eyes injected a newfound terror in the human's heart. For a split second Relics removed his eyes from the other vulpine's and saw his hands twitch and his claws unsheathed.

"Fear."


	19. Fight or Flight

"Daddy wait!" Lana yelled just before her father leapt at the human.

She tried to get his attention, but he was already Hell-bent on killing the human. Luckily, Relics thought quickly and rolled under the bed, just as the enraged vulpine would have fell onto him, and torn him to shreds.

"Get out of there!" The vulpine shouted and dove under the bed to chase after him.

Once again however, Relics was already one step ahead of the middle aged man. He had clamored out from under the bed on the other side and jumped to his feet. He looked to Lana in desperation but she just gave him a desperate look in return. Lana's mother just glared at him, her ebony fur on end and her claws out. She was just waiting for her turn to get a shot at tearing him apart.

"Sorry Lana!" Relics said when he ran over her bed to escape the crawling vulpine. "Sorry Mr. Tress!" Relics said when he accidently stepped on the fox's tail when he got off Lana's bed.

"Ah-ow!" The vulpine shouted from under the bed.

"That's it." Mrs. Tress hissed moved to take out the human. She took one step and Lana grabbed her arm. "You're in enough trouble as it is young lady! Let go of me!"

"Mom wait! This is not what it seems. Please hear us out!" Lana asked with wet eyes which was her mother's kryptonite. It killed her on the inside seeing her baby crying.

"Fine. But tell that to your father." Mrs. Tress said haughtily and gazed away from her daughter. "If I don't like what I hear, then we're having him for dinner tonight. And not in the good way… enchiladas."

The human became cornered by the vulpine. Instinct wanted to take over and waste this guy, but Relics couldn't, seeing as how this man cornering him was Lana's father. Before Relics could decide how to escape, Mr. Tress took a swing which Relics managed to stay away from thanks to his enhancements but the sharp blades of his collar threatened him so he had to stop. This surprised Relics because he had always been able to use his advanced eyesight until last night, that practically spelt his death.

"I'll tear you to shreds!" Mr. Tress yelled and frantically clawed at Relics.

Doing the smart thing, the teen threw up his guard and blocked the claws by stopping the attack at the middle of the forearm with his own. After that, it was a mesmerizing brawl of attacks and defends, with Relics always being the pacifist. He didn't want to hurt Lana's family, but he also didn't want to get hurt himself. So, he held the man's unfocused attacks at bay only because they were savage and uncontrolled. This made it easier for Relics to put up a defense, but the man was stronger then Relics and his fury only made the hard hits even stronger.

In a wild haymaker, Relics ducked under the attack and slipped behind the Fox. He figured that if he stayed in that corner much longer he'd wind up a bloody pulp on the ground. But the human got greedy in the fight, and thought he could end it. Against the little voice in his head, Relics spun around, grappled the vulpine, and put him in a full-nelson.

"Sir! Please calm down! It's not what it seems!" Relics argued as calmly as he could, but the man would not have it.

"GET OFF ME!" He shouted and began to struggle. The water on his fur made him slippery and Relics was beginning to wish he hadn't tried to grab the man. His grip began to falter and Relics abandoned ship while he could, but the sandy brown fox was too fast.

"OW!" The human yelled when Lana's father swiped him across the back with one claw, scratching his bare skin.

"Oh!" Lana moaned with sympathy for Relics. "We need to stop dad!"

"You know your father; he nearly killed Wolf when he broke up with you."

"_I_ broke up with _him._" Lana retorted. "Oh no!" She said when her father finally caught the elusive human and had him down on the ground.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Mr. Tress screamed as he began to strangle the poor teen.

'_Do'h'_ Relics thought as he tried to remove the strong hands from his neck but to no avail. The leather collar around his neck only made things worse as the blades were pushed into his neck but did not manage to puncture the raw skin underneath.

"Let… go!" Relics coughed out as his face began to turn red. The result was Mr. Tress throttling Relics while banging his head against the floor.

'_Okay this is getting excessive. He's lucky he's Lana's dad or he'd be out by now!'_

Lana looked around the room for something, anything that would stop her father from killing the human exchange student, but she came up with nothing. There was no way she'd go near him when he was in such a state. He was likely to lash out at anything at the moment when normally he was so good natured and mild mannered.

It looked like the end for Relics. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't free himself from the vulpine's death grip. He looked over to Lana for assistance but she was franticly looking around for something.

_'Hopefully she's looking for something to club him over the head with.'_ Relics thought as things started to go black around the edges of his vision. _'Well, I guess there's no avoiding it. The old man needs to go d- …AHHHHHH!'_

Relics began thrashing around with all his might, nearly bucking Lana's father off him in the process.

"Stay still you little f- …HOLY SHIT!" Mr. Tress screamed and jumped of Relics like he was electrified. Without a second to lose, Relics rolled away from the spot he was laying in, just as a two inch sized spider made its way to the floor from the ceiling on its web string.

"KILL IT! KILL IT!" Relics and Mr. Tress screamed at the same time, both trying to put as much distance from themselves and the gnarly spider as possible.

Both the women were in shock and disbelief, especially Lana. She never met a man who was as terrified of spiders as her father. It was rather pathetic in a way, but at the same time adorable.

"Well, it's said that girls look for men like their fathers." Mrs. Tress said with her husband standing behind her, glaring at the eight legged freak. Without another word, Mrs. Tress moved to end the scurrying little spider's life. With one fell stomp, the spider was nothing more then a mess on her shoe and the carpet.

"Oh thank God!" Relics sighed panted for air. _'I fucking hate those things.'_

"Daddy no!" Lana hissed as Mr. Tress moved to resume his human slaying.

"Lana! Get out of my way." Mr. Tress ordered sternly as his daughter was the only thing blocking Relics from a slow suffocating death.

'_No Lana don't!'_

"Listen for a minute!" Lana growled which surprised her father, mother, and Relics. "You're blowing this way out of proportion! Relics and I didn't do anything; he's just here to keep me company which was why he was sleeping on the floor, not in my bed!"

"Why is _he_ here then?" Mrs. Tress asked.

'_Boinking your daughter.'_

"It's a long story. If we can all go down into the kitchen without fighting, I'll be happy to explain everything." Lana said calmly.

For a while, Relics thought that Lana's proposal had fallen flat, and that his life was still in danger. He gave her credit though, she managed to make it seem like they weren't in the same bed about to kiss just five minutes ago.

"Fine, but if I don't like what I hear-"

"We're having him for dinner, yes, yes." Lana finished for her father. "Mom's already got the recipe for what she's going to make him into."

'_WHAT!'_

"Really?" Mr. Tress said suspiciously then looked to his wife.

"Enchiladas." She replied to his querying look.

'…_THE!'_

"Sounds good to me. I've been looking forward to a warm meal."

'…_FUCK!'_

~X~X~X~X~

Down in the kitchen, the three Tress family members and one McCloud sat at the square kitchen table. Lana had laid out some refreshments like juice and fruits after she got Relics a shirt and helped clean his claw mark which had bleed halfway down his back. It was a wide scratch but a shallow one that ran across his back shoulder blade to shoulder blade. Once Lana had sat down again, the awkwardness rose because she sat down right next to Relics, rather then the spot her father and mother had set up between themselves for her.

'_Dear God I'm going to die tonight.'_ Relics thought, wishing he had the guts to take some of the beguiling orange drink in front of him because his mouth was so damn dry.

Seconds ticked by and glances were exchanged. Relics mainly looked to Lana for leadership but she seldom caught his eyes. In the off chance he locked gazes with her parents, he met an unmatchable level of bitterness and vile that was being shot at him with their eyes. Mrs. Tress didn't seem all that malicious however, she seemed to give him a quick wave of anger and then she'd simmer down to annoyed or suspicious. Mr. Tress however, he was downright mad, really mad.

Wanting to break this rapidly thickening ice, Relics foolishly piped up. "Lovely house you have here Mrs. Tress." He said to Lana's mother because he wasn't getting as many death threat glares then from Lana's father.

Lana winced, wishing he'd have just kept quiet. Despite the amount of pride her mother took in the house, she wasn't about to go around accepting compliments from her most hated of people. The human soon after wished he had kept his mouth shut because of the suppressed, but still audible, hiss Mrs. Tress made. It sounded just like a feline about to swipe you across the face.

A whole half an hour passed by, but to Relics it might has well been a forty year term in Hell. His heart had yet to slow down back to normal levels and his skin was crawling up and down his bones because of how much he wanted to get up, move, and run.

"So…" Lana's father began much to Relics' bittersweet joy.

"So…" Lana countered, staring her father down.

'_So… am I going to die?'_

"Explain yourself young lady." Mr. Tress growled and instead of watching Lana, he full on glared at Relics while she spoke.

'_Probably.'_

"Well, I'm really glad you two are back, but I wish I had time to tell you about… well, us." Lana began.

"What about the two of you!" Lana's father demanded to know, his voice loud and it hurt Relics' sharp ears. Not the worst her father could have done however.

"Well dad, Relics and I went out on a date and-" Lana explained but was interrupted.

"Like a date, date… or a friend date?" Mrs. Tress asked.

"A friend date mother." Lana reassured.

'_What? So I'm only in the friend box! THAT'S BULLSHIT!'_

"Anyways, a lot of people didn't like that, especially Wolf-"

"Wolf! What has that little bastard done now?" Mr. Tress snapped, turning his burning red eyes to Lana from Relics which allowed the human to breathe again.

"Wolf was kind of angry at Relics because of a fight they got into a few days ago. To get back at him, he decided to kidnap me and force his hand." Lana revealed. "If it weren't for Relics and my friends… well…" Lana meant to finish but trailed off before she got into the details.

All at once the balance of Lana's parents' fury shifted from all on him, to half way on him.

Mr. Tress slammed the table as he jumped to his feet. "And you didn't think to tell us!" He yelled. "Damn it Lana! You could have been killed! We're your parents! We have the right to know when our daughter's life is at threatened!"

"What about the police? Did they lock him up? When's the trial?" Lana's mother snapped as she too rose from her seat in anger.

'_So glad not to be Wolf right now.'_ Relics thought as he stared up in horror at the snarling and hissing Cornerians.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you father. I knew you'd be angry so I wanted to tell you at the right time. Certainly not the second after you got home from a long business trip and flight." Lana explained as gently as she could to her father. "And mother," she said turning her attention, "no one else can know about this. If the authorities get involved then the drawback will be gastronomical. Relics might be sent home early, his people might react, and for all we know a war could breakout." Lana looked to the frightened human and smiled sweetly. "Yet as easy as it was to just run away and leave me to die, he came for me."

'_You know it babe, and I also almost got you to… never-mind.'_ Relics thought as he smiled back at Lana.

Her parents saw the little spark fly between the two and shifted uncomfortably. They couldn't deny there was something there between the two of them, and at the moment they didn't know how to feel about that. The human was an alien, he looked strange, and he had the entire Lylat talking about him. The Tress' knew of all the media hype, but they had no idea of the date Lana and Relics went on because of how busy they had been with their company on Zoness which received news later then most colonies.

"Stop that!" Mr. Tress snapped when Lana's and Relics' smile lasted too long for his comfort.

"What exactly happened Lana?" Mrs. Tress asked in the softest tone she had shown that night.

Lana cleared her throat and looked to Relics. There was no way she was going to betray the secret that was around his neck and in his genes. He knew this by the little glimmer in her ruby eyes.

The minx started at the beginning, the first day of school, their meeting, the fun zone, the date, the kidnapping, the rescue, and the aftermath, all the while editing things out of the story. She kept Relics' secret safe, the fact she was sexually assaulted, and the number of times her life was close to ending.

By the end of it all, her parents were left in shock. They looked for a brief moment to Relics with gratitude but they looked away before Relics could read into it. He was still on their shit list, especially since this was partly his fault. Still, he had gained a point in their books for saving their daughter, which brought him up to negative nine.

"As for Wolf and his gang, we left them at the school, and I doubt they'll come after me again after what Relics did to them." She giggled towards the end, taking great pleasure at the thought of Relics triumphantly pounding the shit out of the men who treated her so cruelly. Even Relics let a small smile loose.

'_That one guy will be lucky if he can have kids after last night. Falcon kick mother fucker!'_

The story slowly sank into Lana's parents. They just sat there mulling over it, looking for flaws and reasons to re-hate Relics with all their beings again. Despite their spite, they could not find anything to say and scowled to themselves.

"I suppose we should… _thank you_, for rescuing our daughter." Mr. Tress admitted.

Relics was about to say something but he felt a pressure being placed on his left foot from the minx's. So instead, he did the smart thing and that was he kept his damn mouth shut.

"Nevertheless." Mrs. Tress began. "As grateful as we are, we still don't trust people who spend the whole day and night alone with our daughter without our approval. I'm afraid you'll have to go home."

'_Well that could have ended up worse.'_

"As for the two of you, I forbid you two from seeing each other." Mr. Tress announced causing both Lana's and Relics' jaws to drop simultaneously.

'_DAFUQ?'_

"B-But dad!" Lana stuttered, hardly able to believe her father just banned her from the one man that made her truly happy.

"It's for your own good Lana." The vulpine affirmed. "How do we know more people won't come for you or this family if they see you with him?"

'_Think man think! Nothing closes a girl's legs faster then parents! …Goddamn, am I still on about that?'_

"But dad that's-" Lana said standing up, ready to fight tooth and nail for her right to be with Relics, or at least friends.

"Forgive me for interrupting but…" Relics began in a calm and cool voice. He kept his tone rather confident and almost alien to add more influence. Once all eyes had turned to him he continued. "I have become rather fond of your daughter. She was my first friend here and I'd hate to lose her. I can understand that you're afraid for her safety and what people might do to her, including me. But I promise you, I'd never let anything happen to my friends. So, please, don't force this divide between us. I'll make it clear to everyone that I am not, _"involved"_ with your daughter, and that we are just friends. That will surely ease tensions won't it?"

Mr. Tress frowned. "That…" He grunted but saw Lana's heartbroken look in the corner of his eye. "Angie?" He asked turning to his wife.

The black panther sighed. "I guess we shouldn't keep these two apart, especially after all he's done."

'_Yes! Yes! YES!'_ Relics celebrated in his mind. Everywhere you looked in his mind there was partying, fireworks, alcohol, and a stripper.

"Fine. You two can be friends, but that is it! No holding hands, no kissing, no long awkward stares into each other's eyes, and especially no late night visits!" Mr. Tress ordered as he slowly sat back down.

Lana and Relics looked at each other. It seemed a little harsh that they had almost explored their feelings, only to be held back by this wall between them. Still, at least they could be friends, and her father didn't say anything about friends with benefits.

"It's a deal." Lana said once Relics nodded his approval.

"Alright then. I guess I should take you home then Relics." Mrs. Tress said and pushed her chair in.

"Are you sure Angie? Cause I wouldn't… _mind_ taking him home." Mr. Tress said strangely.

'_I'd rather walk home, thanks.'_

"I'm sure Xavier. Besides, I want to talk to him privately."

'_Twenty to one odds she doesn't want to talk about a mother daughter threesome.'_ Relics thought sadly to himself as he stood up.

"Have you got everything?" Mrs. Tress asked suddenly.

'_Everything but my girl.'_ Relics thought before nodding affirmatively. "Yes Mrs. Tress."

"Bye Relics." Lana said before hugging the human.

"What did I say about-" Lana's flustered father began but was cutoff.

"You didn't say anything about hugging dad." Lana said and pulled away from a rather red human.

Relics avoided the fox's gaze and cleared his throat. "Um, bye Lana." He said nervously and quickly followed Mrs. Tress out of the kitchen.

The outside air nipped at Relics' unprepared body. With only a pair of borrowed pants and a thin bed-shirt, he was helpless prey to the cold that the storm had left as a calling card before dispersing. The feminine feline casually made her way to the red Honda Accord shaped car. Relics thought it was weird that Cornerians still used pre-interstellar car designs, but that wasn't the hardest thing to adjust to. Not wanting to cause problems, Relics slipped into the backseat.

"So, where do you live?"

"Rosary and Skive street ma'am." Relics replied as the engine came on.

"That's a bit far." Mrs. Tress thought aloud as the car pulled out of the driveway. "So. Mr. Human, I want to talk to you about my daughter. I'm sure you've met Miyu by now."

Relics shivered. "Yes ma'am "

The panther sighed. "I love that girl; she's like a second daughter to me. You'd be surprised how many creeps she's run off for me and Xavier. Our own little Hit-woman if you will. Some horny punk comes after our daughter, we slip Miyu a hundred credits and we don't see him around our daughter again."

The dark outside world quickly sped by. Relics wondered if he was really going home or was he on a rendezvous with Miyu. Either way, the human had no control over his fate.

"As much as I'd love to hand Miyu a hundred credits and a small bonus to take care of you, I have to admit my daughter really likes you." Angie admitted with a sigh. "That said, you may "hang out" with my daughter, but like Xavier said, you are not allowed to date our daughter. If I catch wind of you two violating our agreement, Miyu will be violating your corpse be the end of the day."

'…'

The rest of the car ride was silent as Relics thought of the consequences of even coping a feel on Lana. Like he said before, nothing closes a girl's legs faster then her parents.

When they finally got to Relics' street and to his house, he politely thanked Mrs. Tress for the ride home and apologized for the way things fell out. Mrs. Tress hardly acknowledged him and sped off before Relics could ask about the clothes he had borrowed and was now wearing. Shrugging it off, he walked back into his house and collapsed on the couch.

He was tired but not in a good way. His body didn't want to move but his mind was running circles around the couch, so he decided some good mind rotting television would help him get back to sleep. He turned on the TV with the remote after searching for the button.

"-making that the third system to fall to Venom's influence. In other news, a Cornerian human peace talk broke down today and both parties have retreated back to their systems. The talks mainly revolved around trade and sharing knowledge of each other, but a compromise could not be reached. The humans feel that we know enough already after the first contact, and shouldn't have to disclose anything more until their demands are met."

'_Idiots. The whole lot of them.'_ Relics sighed in his head. _'If they piss the Cornerians off then guess who the Cornerians will ask next.'_

"The post contact treaty is still in effect but the number of human warships has been steadily increasing since. Many fear of a full-scale arms race that will result in a powder keg. General Pepper refused to comment on the possibility of war." The anchorman finished and Relics turned off the TV.

'_There won't be a war unless you jump the gun again. After that, good luck cause I'll take to the streets with whatever I can find and help thin their numbers out.'_ Relics sighed, only half meaning what he thought. He'd hate to have to kill, but if his people needed him, then he wouldn't hesitate.

Eventually Relics became too tired to care, and he stumbled upstairs into his warm bed and stayed there until noon the next morning.


	20. Mondays Suck

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, re-uploaded this chapter so that Lana and Fara don't magically switch places back and forth in the beginning. My bad guys, Lana and Fara are so closely related together that I wouldn't have named the minx Lana if I'd had known beforehand that I was going to make Fara a more important character. L A N A, F A R A, they're too damn similar! Anyways, sorry about that, chapter twenty one will be up in about a week or two… maybe.**_

'_I hate Mondays.'_ Relics griped in his head as he collapsed in his desk. He had slept all day on Sunday so he only got about two hours of sleep last night. On Sunday he just hung around the house and played guitar until he got sick of it. From there he watched a bit of TV and Jason came over to provide some company. Apparently Relics left a good impression on Chloe, Jason's wife. At the moment however, he wanted to rip out his eyeballs and submerge them into a pool of sleep. The thought didn't even make sense to him, but he was too tired to care.

Class slowly filled up as the countdown till start came to a close. For some reason, Fara was nowhere to be seen, until just the very last second.

"Cutting it close there Ms. Phoenix." Mr. Mackenzie commented as Fara just barely stepped into the classroom as the bell rang.

The vixen's ears drooped and she burned red, but she didn't say anything. Relics cocked an eyebrow as she scuttled to her desk next to him and continued to say nothing. All the while during the lecture the old weasel started giving, Relics constantly snuck peaks at Fara. She seemed so ashamed of something and was deliberately avoiding him. For a split second, Relics thought that she might have let his secret out. Since she, Lana, and Wolf were hopefully the only ones that knew, it was unlikely it would come to bite him on the ass.

"Any questions?" Mr. Mackenzie asked at the end of his lecture of thermal dynamics. Almost immediately, everyone's hands raised. The old weasel sighed. "Just like last year."

The hour stretched on and on for Relics who was constantly coming up with thoughts of what Fara could have done to make her so recluse. He decided he'd ask her right as they got out of class which finally came after one of the longest hour Relics could ever remember. The sweet chorus of a bell rang out and before Relics could even blink, Fara was up and out. This surprised everyone because Relics was the first one out but today he was the second.

"Fara!" Relics called out to the vixen who was trying to get away. Once she heard his voice she stopped because there was no use running, and she didn't want him to feel like she was ignoring him. Her ears laid down on her head, her tail sagged, and her nose twitched like she was sniveling. She turned around, clutching her books tightly in her arms and close to her chest.

Relics shivered when he saw her sad expression. "Fara? Are you okay?"

'_Oh… no!'_ Relics thought as he saw her chocolate eyes begin to glisten.

Out of nowhere the vixen made a desperate attack on the human, but not a violent one which Relics would have proffered over the rib crushing hug. The vixen's books all fell to the floor with a loud bringing everyone's attention to them.

"Oh Relics!" She cried rather loudly as she nuzzled Relics' chest and riddled his green shirt with tears. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

'_It's fine, it's fine! Just let go of me!'_

"Fara-" He began but Fara squeezed all the air out of his lungs as her deceptively strong arms tightened her embrace.

"I didn't mean to lose it! Honest! I know what you gave me was special but I lost it! Please don't be mad, I'll find it I swear!"

"The Hell is she talking about?"

"Sex maybe?"

"Whatever it is, it's freaking me the fuck out."

"Maybe she lost her virginity?"

"Idiot, you can't find your virginity after you lose it, dumbass!"

Relics found strength to break Fara's death grip with the embarrassment that fueled his muscles. He pried her arms apart and took a deep breath to put out the fire in his lungs.

"Fara," he choked out. "It's okay, Lana and Bill found my Music Player in the couch right after you left!" He said, throwing Bill into the mix so that nobody got suspicious about what Relics was doing with two girls, Lana and Fara, on the couch.

"You, you what?" Fara asked, her tears stopping instantly. Relics nodded and coughed. "Yay!" She shouted and started crushing his chest again.

'_God fucking damn it!'_ Relics groaned in his head while his ribs made popping noises that the relieved vixen was deaf to.

"Alright Fara, let the human breathe." Falco said coming to Relics' rescue. "Now come on before class starts again." He said quickly led the two away from the gossipers who did not stop theorizing of scandals even when Relics pointed out that it was simply an electronic device that went missing.

Under the falcon's wing, the duo was led away from the curious and merciless onlookers. Only when they were far out of earshot, did Relics breathe easier.

'_Bet I can't even fart without people starting national debates over it.'_

"You know you two; you shouldn't make it plainly obvious that you're cheating on Lana Relics." Falco chuckled under his breath.

"I'm not cheating on Lana… nor am I going out with her!" Relics added to stifle any and al suspicions. His stifling never worked though. People always started talking and gossiping as quietly as they could, but he always heard them. The best he could do was ignore it and not take it personally. After all, if he was back home and was going to school with the only alien on the planet, he'd most definitely be a bit curious.

"Well, this is our stop." Falco said to the vixen when they reached Ms. Kensington's classroom.

"Alright, bye you two." She said and wrapped them both in a perky hug. When both boys were free and slightly coughing, Fara left with a little skip in her stride.

"See ya Fara." Falco called after her before rolling his eyes. "I'd swear she's bi-polar. Come on human, let's see what Ms. Kensington is wearing today!" He said and almost drug the hesitant human into the room.

Much to Falco's dismay and Relics' delight, Ms. Kensington was not wearing a skimpy skirt like before. Instead, the white swan was wearing incredibly tight shorts that made it all the way down to the middle of her thighs, but the avian was wearing a cutaway shirt that clung to her upper body and revealed quite a bit of it.

'_Well seeing alien boobies rather then… well yeah, is better then seeing… ew.'_

"Good morning Mr. Lombardi and Mr. McCloud." The swan sighed as they walked in. "How was your weekends? Didn't get into any trouble."

Falco and Relics looked at each other. "Nope!" They both replied simultaneously.

"Good, good. Now if you both would take your seats." She said and laid back down on her desk with her crossed legs hanging off.

The human was led to Falco's group seating where Slippy and Bill eventually joined up with them. Bill was still pumped up about last Saturday night and was rather talkative.

"So Relics, how'd things go after Fara and I left?" Bill asked as his leg bobbed up and down and his tail fanned the freshman behind him.

"All right, Fox and Miyu left about an hour later but I stayed until dark." Relics admitted which he wished he didn't a second later. He'd never seen a canine's muzzle curl up into a smile that bested the Grinch's, but Bill had just surpassed it.

"So… what you two do? Did you uh… do it?"

"No actually, we just watched movies, talked, played games-" Relics defended earnestly but was cut off at the kneecaps.

"Played games? Is that what you humans call it?" Falco sniggered which made Bill start laughing rather loudly.

Relics frowned. "And we had lunch and dinner together." He finished without getting wrapped up into their little immature games.

"I'm sure you did Relics." Bill said and started lapping the gap between his index and middle finger, almost like he was licking a girl's-

"Oh that's sick." Relics growled as his eyes narrowed. "Don't talk like Bill." Relics sid which made the canine stop and feel awkward. "Besides, that's desert, not lunch or dinner." Relics chuckled.

"Oh I see what you did there." Bill laughed and clapped Relics on the shoulder. "You're alright Relics. You're alright."

"Class has begun William." Ms. Kensington announced to the canine.

"Sorry Ms. Kensington." Bill said and spun around in his chair to face the front.

'_Finally.'_

~X~X~X~X~

"-and so the doctor said that if I stopped pulling it so hard then it would heal in time, but I told him that it feels too good." Bill said as Relics was trying to decide whether to get hotdogs or sausages. What Bill just said did not make either decision appealing, so he went with a side salad with a colorful array of vegetables.

"That's a great anecdote Bill." Relics sighed.

"You think so? Not many people like hearing about my broken tail story."

Probably because you make it sound like you're talking about your dick half the time." Falco squawked. "_But I told him it feels too good!_ Honestly, you're like a dog with a bone."

'_Tell me about it.'_ Relics agreed as he paid for his lunch then followed the avian and canine into the cafeteria.

Like always, Relics was followed with curios eyes wherever he went. He hated the staring, it made him feel so ostracized like he had done something wrong and no one wanted to be around him. If it weren't for Bill, Falco, and Slippy, he'd have skipped lunch entirely and found a nice dark hole to hide in until it was over. Hell, if he had to he'd hide in Ms. Kensington's class but he shuddered to think what she might do if they were ever alone.

"Oh hey! There's Lana!" Bill announced to the duo in his trio making Relics perk up and look for the minx.

"What? Where?" He asked looking around feverishly. Much to the human's disappointment, he found that there really was no Lana, just a fit of laughter from the canine.

"You should have seen the look on your face Relics!" Bill giggled uncontrollably. "You were all like, Lana? Where!"

Relics' eyes squinted with disdain. "Yeah, real funny Bill."

"Come on Bill, you shouldn't pick on Relics." Falco chided. "After all, this son of a bitch took out nine guys all by himself."

"I know that!" Bill said and sat down at their usual table with Relics at his left and Falco to his right. "But Relics and I are pals! He'd never hurt me. Right buddy."

The human simply looked at the canine. No words were spoken, just the grey and brown eyes speaking volumes to each other. Bill shivered and started pecking at his food.

"That was kind of gay." Falco chortled while Bill glowed red and said nothing.

'_Threaten Bill's life without speaking, check.'_

"Hey guys!"

"Miyu!" Falco and Bill exclaimed as the perky young lynx sat down opposite of the human, followed by her boyfriend, off and on boy-toy, Fox. The second the couple sat down, their hands wrapped around each others and refused to let go. Miyu and Fox had learned to eat with their off hands this way, and despite only having one available hand, they both ate efficiently and quickly.

"What's up guys?" Fox asked as he forked his enchilada.

"Oh not much Fox, just hanging with my favorite alien." Bill said and playfully punched Relics arm.

'_MEDIC!'_ Relics screamed mentally as his right arm went numb. Bill did not know the extent of his strength one bit. _'One would think that being such a behemoth, one would know how painful one's punches would be if one were to punch two with one's twenty six inch pythons and carry the four, equals… fuck math.'_

"And how are you Relics?" Miyu asked sweetly which made Relics gag on his milk. "Are you okay?"

'_Well that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me in a long line of threats ranging from painful to volatile. I think I might be dead already actually.'_

"Yeah," Relics choked out before coughing some more while Bill patted him on the back. "Stop, that's not helping!" Relics coughed as his face came closer and closer to hitting the table with everyone of Bill's powerful pats.

"Sorry bud." Bill grinned.

"It's okay, I'm good." Relics said when he stopped coughing and all the milk was clear.

"Oh bill, you're going to kill someone one day." Miyu sighed. "But anyways, Relics, how have you been? Lana told me all about last night-"

"What about last night!" Bill exclaimed.

The canine and falcon looked to the grinning lynx. "Well apparently, our friend stayed the night at a certain minx's house."

The falcon's beak dropped and so did the canine's muzzle. Their eyes wide they looked at the human, unable to think of anything to say except for…

"Duuuude!" Falco exaggerated.

"Hi-five!" Bill said and raised his hand up high, almost too high for Relics to reach. The human didn't look Bill in the eye, just lightly tapped Bill's hand.

'_Such a white guy hi-five.'_

"What did you two do? Did you get into her-" Bill questioned but one hiss from Miyu stopped his over-badgering questions. No one was allowed to talk about Lana like she was some bimbo that Relics picked up last night. "Did you exchange the maritals?"

"No, we didn't." Relics sighed and poked his salad while keeping his attention entirely focused on the salad. "We slept in the same room until her parents got home."

"Oh shit!" Bill gasped and covered his muzzle as he grinned like a madman and giggled like a schoolgirl.

"No fucking way! How are you still alive!" Falco gapped.

The speckled lynx finished for Relics. "Luckily for him, Lana was able to save him." She purred.

"That's my boy, bag the ladies and run from their daddies- ow!" Bill yipped when Miyu kicked him in the shin, creating an instant bruise. "Ow! Again!" He yipped when Relics kicked him but the pit-bull thought it was Miyu.

"Where were you two in all this?" Falco asked.

"We went home." Fox smirked.

Falco nodded and then scowled to himself. If there was one thing he hated, it was people getting more action then him, in both definitions of the word action.

"Hey where's Slippy?" Fox asked when he realized his childhood friend was nowhere to be seen.

"He forgot his money so he ran home to go get it. You know that fat-ass, can't settle with just one helping. He's like the amphibian version of Fara." The avian said before he got smacked on the head from behind.

"You calling me fat Falco?" The vixen asked as she sat down to Fox's right and Falco's left.

"No, I'm calling you a landfill which is never satisfied until you throw the fridge in there!" Falco snapped.

'_Thank God they've forgotten me.'_ Relics sighed with relief in his head as Falco and Fara had at it. He almost fell asleep because he was still so tired, but the bell rang so loud that he was jolted awake.

Because of all the putrid stinks in gym and all the exercise, Relics found himself unable to catch any sleep in gym. Finally fifth period math rolled around and he made his way to the rough, uncomfortable, cold desk, but if you haven't slept in almost twenty four hours, those desks are like clouds.

'_Oh vile temptress, why do you tempt me so?'_ Relics asked himself as he rested his head on the cool wood of the desk. His body quickly warmed the wood and his eyes fluttered so shyly downwards. _'A fluttershy if you will.'_ The human mused to himself as Fara began to fade away to black.

Within seconds, Relics was asleep and his quiet breaths turned to gentle snores, and then it sounded like he was trying to inhale the atmosphere. Fara giggled silently to herself as the human snored away on his desk. Everyone knew he was asleep, even the teacher, but no one wanted to wake the sleeping human. Instead, they all proceeded as if he wasn't even there, that is until he started talking in his sleep.

First it started with a few grunts and moans which drew everyone's skittish attention to him. Then the human started talking.

"Ugh, kill… kill! Kill all Cornerians... Kill all Cornerians! Kill!" He moaned louder and louder.

Immediately everyone's desks started to scoot away from his and the combined screeching of the desks woke the groggy human.

"Ugh. Did I fall asleep?" Relics yawned and looked to the wide eyed Fara. He yawned again. "Sorry, I was having such a wonderful dream." Relics said and looked around the classroom. "I think you all were in it."

~X~X~X~X~

'_No! Not again!' _Relics thought to himself as Mr. Mochas' lecture droned on and he was becoming a slave to his exhaustion. He didn't want to make a genocidal ass out of himself again, but oh the air in the room was like a warm blanket that coddled him lovingly. _'Can't sleep, furries will eat me.'_ He started chanting to himself mentally so that he'd be free of the siren's song that is sleep.

'_You know what? I won't sleep! I'll just rest my eyes for a few seconds, soothe my tired eyes. Just a few seconds…'_ The human told himself as he once again passed out.

~X~X~X~X~

"Hey there baby… you're pretty fine." Relics muttered in his sleep. "Want to help me kill all Cornerians?"

"Come on Relics, time to go." The human heard as someone gently poked him and shook him awake.

The teen's head shot up instantly and he looked around. The class was entirely deserted besides him, the teacher, and the russet feline Tracy. Outside the classroom he could hear the voices, the shuffling, and the noises of people passing by to get to their next class.

"Again?" The human grumbled to himself.

"Rough night last night?" Tracy asked as the groggy human stood up and grabbed his things.

"Like scrapping a knee on concrete." Relics grunted, his voice still half asleep.

"Ooh, that _is_ bad." Tracy said and followed Relics out to the hallway. "You have fun in sixth period Relics."

"See ya Tracy, and thanks!" Relics said before they parted ways. _'Thanks for waking me up from my dream with Lana on a beach. Bitch.'_ He thought rather unfairly of the feline. He knew it was mean to think that, but when was the next time he'd be rubbing lotion on Lana's bare back?

The human ventured through the halls of school. His reputation preceded him in his stride and people moved to make sure it was always unbroken. If he wanted some water at a water fountain, all he had to do was move to the front and everyone would walk away. Of course he would never do that, seeing as how the school pipes made the water taste like copper. But still.

"RELICS!" Someone shouted behind the human, but he was too tired to jump with fright.

"Huh? What? Oh, it's you Bill." Relics grunted and now flew in formation at the burly pit-bull's right.

"How ya doing buddy? I heard from Lana that Mr. Sunshine was kind of sleepy today. Up all night riding Lana's sweeeeeet backside eh?" The pit-bull laughed before continuing his hazing. "Then comes in all mommy and daddy to keep ya from finishing."

'_Stupid annoying pit-bull, never has anything but sex jokes to say. Wait a minute!'_ Relics realized and because of how tired he was, he announced his revelation to the canine.

"Bill! You're a pit-bull!" Relics said with wide eyes, which were the widest they had been all day.

Bill looked at Relics like he was crazy. "Uh, yeah. I am. Work that out by yourself?"

"Well I had Lana's help." Relics sniggered. "Hot damn."

"What?" Bill asked.

"Oh nothing." Relics replied. _'He'll never be able to call me tater!'_

"Okay Tater." Bill sighed.

'_FUCK!'_

With Bill's expert sense of direction, Relics made it to sixth period for the first time without being late. Everyone else was already there, and so Relics and Bill double timed it to file into formation.

"So what are we doing today?" Relics asked as he stood at attention to Bill's left.

"Dunno, looks like… no way!" Bill gasped in a whispered tone. "RELICS! RELICS! We're going on a wild ride and going to have SO much fun!"

'_A two hundred and ten, masculine alien telling me we're going to have fun on a wild ride… okay butt-cheeks, start clenching.' _He thought as his butt clenched and he stared at the strange flags and colored jerseys that were just a few feet away from the dreaded Fun Zone.

Captain Fritz appeared unexpectedly and took roll. Everyone was accounted for, even Lana who Relics wished he saw before he stepped in line. Still, it was nice hearing her pretty voice.

"Alright, everyone's here, for once." Cpt. Fritz remarked while casting Fox, Relics, and Lana a look. "Now I'm sure you all can guess from all the flags and jerseys I had a certain someone pull out for doing a certain something with another certain someone," he said casting yet another look at Fox and Miyu, "we're testing out the newest versions of the Virtual Reality Training System. Now everyone give me a quick lap around the track, and we'll start."

'_Oh boy, a quick jog to wake me up. Okay, left leg go! …Left leg go! LEFT LEG GO!'_ Relics screamed as he was having problems kick starting his body into motion. His mental egging managed to get him moving eventually, and Relics was now running in the middle, not the fastest, but not the slowest. He could go much faster then that, but he didn't want to bring attention to himself. If his Suppressor wasn't around his neck, he'd have finished before Lana made it a quarter of the way around.

The minx was booking it though; she was well ahead of everyone, including Fox. Miyu was just a bit behind but Relics suspected that was only because she wanted to ogle him from behind (and he was right), Falco next and then a couple others. Until it got to the large cluster of students that Relics fit into. At the end there were a couple of winded people, but the people who were more in shape like Fox, Miyu, Lana, and Relics, were hardly winded at all.

"Bout time, I was getting bored." Fritz scowled as everyone lined up at the pods. "Now form up teams of four."

Relics didn't even blink and he already had his team. Lana, Bill, and Falco flocked to him. He looked to his team and shrugged. Could be worse.

"Ready to play some _TEAM DEATHMATCH!_" Bill said exasperatingly loud and pumped up like a jock at a game. Some spit flew from the pit-bull's jowls and landed on the human's rage paralyzed face.

Wiping the fluids away he grunted. "What the Hell is team deathmatch?"

Bill just grinned and got all giddy, a pleasure overload preventing him from explaining, so Relics looked to Lana.

"Team deathmatch is Bill's favorite game. Basically we work as a team, complete objectives, and kill all the other teams." She explained with a smile that made Relics almost miss the whole kill the other teams bit.

'_She's so cute, and to think my junk was rubbing against her last night.'_ Relics thought to himself as his heart melt at the adorable sight. He always had a soft spot for animals, and Cornerians looked exactly like animals so it was hard to stay mad at them. Like your cat, just cause it scratches the Hell out of you, doesn't mean you won't pet it twenty minutes later.

The grey canine returned with red colored jerseys for the quartet and was panting for breath. "The good colors always go fast, good thing I'm the fastest on Corneria." Bill sniggered and handed Relics then Lana then Falco a jersey. The human resisted the urge to make a she said joke, and just threw the paint splattered jersey over his shirt.

'_Only my pants can get ruined now! Great!'_

The pit-bull scurried back to the equipment racks and grabbed weapons for everyone then came rushing back. "Okay, I got Falco the shotgun, I got Lana the rifle, I got myself the submachine gun, and Relics, you can have the knife!"

Relics looked at the plastic knife that Bill handed him. Compared to the sleek, metal paintball guns they had his flimsy little toy was the most emasculating thing ever. He made a pretend stab at someone's gut and found that the "blade" wobbled like a limp appendage.

"You're kidding right?" Relics grunted.

"Nope, I've seen what you can do in close quarter combat buddy, so you get the close quarter weapon!" Bill grinned and loaded his trusty, unbending submachine gun.

Relics looked around; no one else had the knife. _'Note to self, Bill gets this right up his ass followed closely by my foot.'_

"I'll take the knife Relics." Lana offered but Relics refused.

"Nah I got this." Relics shrugged. There was no way he'd let Lana walk into a hornets nest of trigger happy teenagers with paintball guns, with only a toy knife you get at a dollar store. "What are the rules though?"

"One shot kill, two hits dead. Guys can hit guys but not girls or they get expelled. Girls can hit guys though, just not in the groin twice." Falco quickly explained.

"Can I stab girls?" Relics asked.

"Nicely."

The human rubbed his temples. "And I can't have a real weapon?" Relics sighed while looking at Bill.

The canine smiled as best he could. "That was the only one left actually. We've got a lot of people this year and the guns went quick. All that else is left are these hidden blade things, but I can never get them to work. They're these little knives that come out with the flick of the wrist and you stab people, stupid little invention."

'_MOTHER FUCKER!'_ Relics swore; as he'd much rather have the fabled weapon of the brotherhood of assassins.

"Can I take dead people's guns?" Relics hoped against hope.

"Nope, they're DNA locked to the user." Falco laughed.

"Don't worry Relics; I'll watch your back." Lana reassured the sulking human. As good as he was in physical contact fights, that didn't count for shit if your opponent blew you away with a gun. Like the old saying goes, never bring a knife to a gunfight.

'_This is so stupid. I'm probably going to get hosed by Miyu again. Stupid Cornerians, always screwing me over one way or another.'_ Relics grumbled mentally as he and his team made their way into the simulated war torn city.

"You ready?" Lana asked as she stayed particularly close to Relics for his protection.

"As ready as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest." Relics grunted, who was just full of sunshine, joy, and love of life at the moment. Lana giggled and that turned his rather sarcastic and grumpy mood a little less sour. He liked her laugh as much as he liked her purr, fur, and warmth.

"Okay guys, the other teams are going to be gunning for the flag so we need to give it to our best player. Relics, you take it." Bill said and it now became apparent to Relics that Bill was trying to get him killed.

"No! I got the knife! How am I supposed to defend the flag with a knoife?" Relics snapped just as a lot of the lights went out, shrouding the battleground in darkness most everywhere. The only places that were well lit were the chokes, fortifications, and mini-bases. "Actually, I'll take that." Relics grinned evilly.

"That's what I thought!" Bill said and handed the human the flag that was as big as the ones you buy at the dollar store to wave on a national holiday.

'_Oh the dollar store, always serving my needs for disposable crap.'_ Relics thought as he pocketed the red flag.

"Okay guys, follow my lead. If we move quickly we might be able to get to the base just a block away and-" Bill whispered just before a paintball whizzed past his face and splattered on the side of the building he was standing by. "SHIT TAKE COVER!" He screamed and then quickly ducked behind a concrete barrier in the middle of the road.

Falco, Lana, and Relics followed the leader and took cover. Falco shared the barrier with Falco while Lana and Relics hid behind the shell of an old rusted car.

"Relics, can you see where they're shooting from?" Lana asked.

The human peeked out from behind the car's trunk and saw nothing, just a dark and empty street.

"No I can't." Relics said and adjusted the knife in his hand so that the blade looked to the ground when he held it out in front of him. "I've got an idea though. How good are you with that?"

Lana blushed. "Let's just say that you don't want to get on my bad side with it in my hands." She purred.

"EAT SHIT ASSHOLES!" Bill screamed and popped out from behind the barrier and discharged ten paintballs before ducking back down and nearly becoming whitewashed himself. He hadn't managed to hit anyone, but he drew their attention to him just long enough for Relics to run out and grab their attention.

"What are you-" Lana began but then she saw the locations of the people shooting at them. They were down the street in a small little blown out building so close to each other. The minx wasted no time and quickly rushed to save her friend from getting shot.

'_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'_ Relics thought as he felt paint splatter all around him as he ran in serpentine. He hadn't been hit yet, but if Lana didn't hurry it up he certainly would be.

"OW!" Relics heard someone scream but was too busy running around like a jackass to care. Then came another scream and then another. Not wanting to be bait anymore, Relics ducked down behind a sandbag wall and caught his breath. It wasn't the exercise that winded him, just the gallons of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"Relics, are you alright?" Bill shouted out to the human a block away.

"No thanks to you Bill!" Relics shouted back. "Lana!"

"Yes Relics?" She replied as she reloaded her empty rifle.

"You're my girl!" He yelled which made her blush like she had a fever. "Thanks for covering me!"

"Any-Anytime!" Lana stuttered. "I didn't get the last one though, he ran off before I got him in my sights. Stay down! He had a rifle!"

"Well fuck, a cornered sniper and we have no idea where he is." Relics grumbled to himself. He carefully peered out from his cover to survey the ravaged city but found no trace of the sniper. It was too dark and there was too much to take in with just one quick glance. "Hey Bill! You run this time, I'll cover you!"

"Well okay- wait! No!" Bill shouted back when he remembered Relics had the knife.

"We got to do something! We can't just sit here and wait for the sniper to pick us off one at a time!" Falco interjected.

"The featherbrain is right!" Bill said but announced no plan.

The human rolled his storm grey eyes. "Fine." He scowled and quickly dashed from cover to the position of the now dead assailants. If he got shot then that would let Lana know exactly where the sniper was, if he didn't then yahoo for him.

'_Come on, come on!'_ Relics prayed as he ran full sprint to the building and quickly dove in. Not a drop of paint touched him.

Looking around, Relics spotted a possible path the sniper might have taken to get away. There was a small tunnel that might have been a crawlspace at some point. Either way, Relics went in after the sniper silently. There was no noise as he crawled across the ground and he held the knife in his mouth thinking how badass of a pirate he'd make. Once he was through he found himself in yet another building, but this one was closer to his team's position and mostly intact. There was still a roof but the windows were all gone and the floor had holes large enough for Relics to fall into.

'_There you are.'_ Relics thought to himself as he crept towards the silver body. He made sure to spread his weight and kept his footsteps as quiet as could be. Luckily though, Bill and Falco were having an argument over who should run in after Relics so that covered his noise well.

"Almost got you ya little bitch. Shoot my friends and you get it right between those pretty eyes." The fox muttered to himself as his sights were trained on the minx who was waiting for Relics' cue behind the car.

"Oh really?"

Before the vulpine could do anything his left hand was removed from the gun throwing the shot he had lined up completely off. From the shock he received, he pulled the trigger and it went wild. The next thing the vulpine knew was a fist to the muzzle, a knee to the gut, and a harsh acquaintance with the floor after a quick flip over forward.

Just to be sure, Relics made a quick cut across the moaning vulpine's neck. "Dead." The human grunted before leaving the pain wracked vulpine rolling around on the floor in pain.

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys time for a time skip! I think about a month is what I'm going to shoot for. Don't agree? Then send a word my way. Oh yes, I changed Bill's species from bulldog to pit-bull for two reasons. First is bulldogs are ugly as fuck, and two, I think Bill really is a pit-bull. He looks like it in Star Fox 64 3d, his ears are adorable! Anyways, have a good one peeps! Thanks for reading!**_


	21. Send Me Out With A Bang

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, just wanted to inform you that there has been a time skip between this chapter and the last by one month. **_

_**I also seem to have time to shamelessly self advertise my latest story. I've finally branched away from Star Fox to Sly Cooper. Big leap I know. Anyways it's called Sly Cooper: Dues Ex Machina and it's sort of a meld of the two games. It's also my first first-person story. So yeah, go check it out and what not.**_

_**One more note, Back to Hell is officially on hiatus and its fate is pending. Sorry guys and gals, but I just don't feel it anymore, and I also fucked it up at square one. Since then it's just been getting worse and worse in my eyes. I've been contemplating a remake starting from scratch at the end of the predecessor but… I have only a month left before I leave. Oh well, perhaps when I get back I'll start it up. Problem? Send me a pm and I'll listen to your nays or ayes.**_

_**Anyways, on to the story! **_

'_Carry that stupid fucking Y and we're done! Why we need letters in math is beside me but regardless, homework is done!'_ Relics sighed with relief and now his weekend was completely free. _'…Shit.'_ He thought when he realized he had nothing to do. Lana was away with her family as part of their plan to keep the two as far apart as possible as much as possible, Bill was busy, Falco was kind of a downer, Slippy smelled funny, Fox and Miyu were probably going at it all weekend, and Fara was no doubt ruining Fox's and Miyu's weekend. She was a good friend and all, but she held no definition of the words boundaries or privacy.

A lot had happened in a month's time. School started to get harder and harder with every day gone, he now had a weekly dinner date with Jason and his wife Chloe, people in school were beginning to warm up to him but no great strides were made in making the human feel welcomed, and so far no wars had broken out. Due to the fact that Relics couldn't always pull out his translation device in the middle of class without it becoming a distraction, he'd been given special contact lenses that would translate Cornerian text into one Relics could read. They came in handy but they'd slip off every now and then because they were made for a simian's eyes which was the closest there was to a humans.

One thing that didn't change was Relics was still the most sought after thing in the Lylat, and whoever managed to get an interview with him was guaranteed fame. The recluse human always managed to stay one step ahead of the annoying paparazzi because he did not want all that attention. All it managed to do was further himself away from people.

'_What to do? What to do?'_ Relics thought but whatever controlled his destiny came up with a decision for him.

"Relics! Relics!" A familiar canine called out as he stepped into the house.

"I'm right here Jason." The human said as he turned around on the couch.

"Oh there you are, you blended in so well with the white carpet I didn't see you, whitey." Jason sniggered and closed the door behind him.

"Ah ha-ha-ha." Relics laughed sarcastically while Jason rounded round the couch and sat next to the human.

"So. What do you want to do? We're two young bucks with cash to burn and bitches to spur."

Relics thought that one over in his head. "Like… like cowboys?"

"Exactly!" Jason exclaimed. "What do you want to do?"

"Why ask me? I don't know what's fun here!"

The German Sheppard nodded and scratched under his muzzle and much to Relics' private enjoyment his leg bobbed up and down. "We could watch TV?"

"All right. Here's the remote." Relics said handing Jason the remote to the large seventy two inch three-D TV. Despite the gnawing urge to, Relics never used the TV anymore, whatever was on either confused or scarred the crap out of him. One of the days he did turn the TV on and tried to watch some was the day there was a documentary on Aero-Spiders and Relics had never seen anything quite so horrible and terrifying. Apparently on planet Venom there were these ghastly spiders that had, over the years of evolution, acquired wings. Relics wasn't the biggest fan of spiders, in fact to him, spiders were nature's reminder that he was a little puss.

Jason was just about to press the on button when it happened.

"Oh shit!" Jason exclaimed as his phone vibrated while an ominous voice began moaning like a ghost "it's your wife! What does she want? Are you in trouble? Probably!".

"Forget to do something?" Relics asked as he watched Jason frantically read the message.

"You could say that. It's Friday! How could I forget!" Jason growled at himself and hit his face with the palm of his hand.

"What's so important about today?" Relics asked but regretted what he did when Jason answered.

"We're trying to have kids and Chloe is in heat right now! It more than doubles our chances of getting her preggers. I've got to get home and get on it!" He said and darted to the door, leaving a queasy human behind. "See ya brotato!"

"Have fun Jason." Relics groaned.

"Thanks, I will! If you hear me cry out for the police, then wait about a five minutes so I can finish."

'_Oh God that's nasty!'_ Relics vomited mentally which pushed a bit of his lunch up. Forcing it back down, Relics realized that he now had nothing to do.

When you're bored to death you start walking around like a zombie, doing random and strange things. The human walked into every room of the house checking for bugs to kill with his shoe, he rearranged the kitchen silverware in the drawer, and he made his bed. To him that was strange because he normally just crawled in and out at will.

"It's still four!" He exclaimed. "God! Throw me a bone here!"

~X~X~X~X~

"Come on mom! He's a real cool guy and just because he's human-" Fox argued but his mother would not have any of it.

"Your father might want you to watch over that… _thing_, but that does not mean I will tolerate _its_ presence in this house!" She declared. "We are _not_ inviting _it_ over for dinner."

"Honey." James moaned as he wrapped his arms around her but she pushed away.

"Don't patronize me with that honey crap! I will not make dinner for _it_." She hissed.

"Then I'll make the dinner. You've only got to smile and bear with _his_ presence." James reassured and stressing the his so to remind his wife that Relics was in deed a person. "I know you don't like humans but the General fears that he's becoming sort of a recluse. You hardly see anything of him on the news when he isn't in school."

"That's another thing!" Vixy exclaimed. "I am sick of seeing him all over the TV like he's the messiah! He's just some alien freak-show."

"But he's just a kid Vixy." James said before Fox could explode at his mother for calling Relics a freak-show. "He's the only one of his kind here and he's probably scared out of his mind. He doesn't have any family within light-years. Just think of how Fox or Christa would feel if he was ostracized on a remote alien planet. Would you want your son or daughter to be-"

"Okay!" Vixy growled as James had played a mother's natural weak spot, her children. "But just this once! And if he slips up once you take him home Fox."

The young vulpine couldn't help but smile. "Alright mom. I'll go give him a call; you're doing the right thing mom." He then hugged her and planted a kiss on the disgruntled vixen's cheek who just growled to herself under her breath.

~X~X~X~X~

Relics pounded his head against the table in the beat of the Terminator beat. With every thud he'd think "bored". It was a sad sight to see, but a funny one as well.

Finally, after a half an hour of potential brain damaging head soloing, Relics' wrist com went off. When it did he nearly had a heart attack and he fell out of his chair. Thankful for living alone so no one saw, Relics got up and answered.

"Hello?" Relics asked more then said since there wasn't a projection of anyone's dismembered head.

"Hey Relics!" A voice that was more welcomed then Bill's, Jason's, or Falco's.

"Oh, hey Fox!" Relics replied. "What's up?"

"Not much, just wondering if you were busy today. My dad was going to whip up something special tonight and we figured we'd invite ya." Fox offered.

Relics bit his lips, anything to get out of the house, but he couldn't sound desperate. "Sure, just let me see if I'm clear today." He said and looked around the room. No fire, no disasters, not even a spider to hunt with a shotgun. "Yeah sure, sounds great!"

"Alright, I'll swing by in about thirty minutes."

"See ya then." Relics said and the two hung up.

'_Dinner with the McClouds, sounds like fun.'_ Relics thought optimistically, which was a rarity for the human. After the pleasant dinners with Jason and his wife, he was actually looking forward to this. Just a nice, quiet evening with a nice family, enjoying a delicious meal together. How quaint.

Needless to say, Relics wanted to make a good impression on Fox's parents, especially after that fiasco with Lana's parents. He had a little scar from that incident, but he was thankful that was the worst of the beating. Relics went upstairs and quickly threw on some nice, clean clothes and a jacket. Fox showed up about thirty minutes later.

"Ready to go?" Fox asked as Relics stepped outside his home into the crisp and slightly refreshing autumn air.

The human moved the hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the ride."

Fox shrugged. "No problem, I just got my car back after Miyu and I got caught in the passenger seat."

"Ew." Relics said and jumped back from the passenger seat while the vulpine laughed. 

"Just kidding Relics, it was the backseat, I swear." Fox sniggered and got back into the seat of his Mercedes.

'_But Lana and I sat in the backseat.'_ Relics thought as he remembered what little he could of the extraction from school to her house over a month ago.

To Relics' delight, Fox was a _much_ better driver then Jason. Fox didn't speed, run red lights, give in to road rage, or start street brawls. Along the way though they started talking.

"Um… h-hey, Relics?" Fox asked.

"Yeah?"

Fox scratched the back of his head at a red light. "Um… just a heads up in advance… my mom is not too fond of humans."

'_And you decide to tell me this now!'_

"I see." Relics muttered.

Fox's face clenched into a painful 'well you see' kind of look. "Look, I'm not going to lie… my mom is one of those anti-human demonstrators you might have seen on the news."

'_Are you fucking serious?'_

"But don't get me wrong, she's like the nicest person ever. Dad and I think that maybe if she spends a little time around you then she might come around. She only hates humans in the first place because she can't seem to forgive all the casualties taken from the invasion. Don't get me wrong, I know you lost _a lot_ more people, but my mom is a nurse… and the conditions we got some of our boys back were gruesome. She was one of the people who received the wounded that day." Fox added quickly to show he wasn't taking sides.

"I see." Relics said after a long pause and they were almost at Fox's house. They weren't in the fanciest of neighborhoods like Lana lived in, but Fox was what you'd consider lower upper middle class. His father made a lot, but there were sometimes long gaps between large hauls of credits. If dad couldn't provide, mom's job at the hospital would see to it that they had food, although it had never come to that before.

"I can take you back home if you want." Fox said as he saw his house come into range. He slowed down so Relics would have more time to make his decision.

"Nah, your mother has the right to be angry, she cares for her people and isn't happy with what went down. I can't blame her for that." Relics said, having seemed to have shrugged it off. "I can't lie to you and say that I was happy with your kind after what happened. But my time here is putting things into perspective."

Fox shut off the engine to his car and sighed. "Well, I'm glad it's working for you at least, cause I don't have a clue whether or not I'm going to be on my way to college or a cockpit in the next two years."

Relics shrugged. "Don't worry about it. No one wants a war; so no one's going to start one."

"I hope you're right." Fox said and got out of the car.

The two boys didn't talk any further until they were at the doorstep of Fox's house. The vulpine looked to the human but he just shrugged.

"How bad could it be?" Relics asked humorously, but Fox only shivered. His mom might be a nice person overall, but she could have her moments of extreme scorn.

The duo wiped their feet off on the mats just to be safe before entering. Fox gave Relics a concerned look that said "you can back out now", but Relics was bored. It was either this or spend the whole day wallowing in self pity and tedium. Besides, his dinners with Chloe and Jason were awesome, so why wouldn't they be with the McClouds?

The russet vulpine opened the door and walked in. "Hey everyone, we're here."

When Relics walked into the house, the first thing he noticed was how warm it felt. The house really felt like a family lived here; it was bright, cozy, and homey at the same time. Then his nose picked up the delicious aromas that rivaled Chloe's cooking.

'_Okay, things aren't as bad as they could be. At least they're not some redneck hicks who- …what the fuck is that.'_ Relics thought when he saw a small fox staring at him with big green eyes.

"Uh hey Fox?" Relics asked nudging the vulpine. "Who's that?"

"That's Christa!" He said and walked over to the staring kit. He picked her up and gave her a big hug, all the while she just stared at the human.

'_I think that_ I'm_ the one that's going to need an adult.'_

"I see. Nice to meet you Christa." Relics said trying to be nice and made the simplest smile he could.

Christa looked at Relics a second longer and then to Fox. "Fox, is that the skin-rag mommy was talking about."

"Christa!" Fox hissed.

'_Kids fucking suck.'_ Relics growled as his eyes squinted. "What's a skin-rag?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Fox said and whispered to Christa before sending her off.

There were many derogatory terms for humans, skinner; because of their lack of fur, feathers, etc., hairless apes; being called hairless was a personal insult in Cornerian culture like being called bald in our culture, but skin-rag was a rather prude one to say in the least. Skin referred to humans and rag referred to tampons.

Fox looked back at the suspicious human who was now suffering from buyer's remorse. "So." Fox exhaled. "Care to meet my parents?"

"Alright." Relics replied a bit coldly but he was already trying to find ways to suppress that insult. He wouldn't last two hours brooding in spite, so he'd just badmouth them all later.

"Kids say the darndest things, don't they?" Fox laughed as he led Relics into the kitchen, the central hub of the McCloud home.

'_They're better seen and heard as little as possible, like a ho.'_

Sure enough, the entire McCloud family had collaborated into the kitchen. Relics noticed that Fox looked _exactly_ like his dad, but that was an understatement. If not for the green eyes Fox had then he'd have bet his life that Fox was not his father's son, but his clone. Fox's mother on the other hand was a darker shade of orange, borderline russet. She was a bit red at the cheeks making Relics think she and Fox's dad had been arguing recently.

'_Probably about me.'_ Relics thought as his mind rolled its metaphorical eyes and he put on the best pleasant poker face.

"Dad, Mom, Christa, this is Relics." Fox said to the three other McClouds. That's my dad James, my sister Christa, and my mom Vixy."

"Nice to meet you all." Relics said when no one else would.

"Likewise." James said offering a hand which was throwing Relics a bone. As of now he had two for the day.

'_DEAR GOD! AH! CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF!'_ Relics shrieked in his mind. James was a beast, and so were his death-claws that he called hands. They nearly crushed the poor human's hand even with him clenching as hard as he could back.

"Nice handshake." James commented as Relics fought back tears.

"Thanks." He pitifully said but was more of a whimper.

"Vixy McCloud, but Mrs. McCloud will do." Vixy said with a sharp tone and surprisingly held out her hand. James and Fox saw it as a step in the right direction, but the handshake itself was merely a way to nearly break Relics' hand. She knew how hard her husband shook and exploited the pain in the human's hand. The handshake was over as fast as it came when Vixy clamped down on the human's hand and let go.

'_ALONE TIME IS USELESS!'_ Relics cried as his hand began swelling.

"Don't be shy Christa." Fox cooed to the shy little kit who was hiding behind her mother.

Christa chanced a look at Fox and then back to Relics. She shook her head and buried her face into her mother's leg. The little five year old was having _nothing_ to do with the human it seemed.

'_As if things couldn't get as awkward as they were with Lana's parents.' _Relics thought when no one said anything for the longest time. James eventually left the pseudo-conversation to take care of dinner, leaving Fox, Vixy, and Relics to it.

"Um, I'm going to go show Relics the upstairs real quick." Fox said when he'd grown weary of the thick layer of discomfort that seemed to be manifesting in the air around them.

"Sure dear." Vixy said, her eyes not once coming off the pink human.

'_Talk about a battle-axe.'_ Relics thought when he and Fox quickly slinked away._ 'And I'm supposed to have dinner with that woman!'_

"Not a bad start I guess." James shrugged when the boys left the room.

"What are you doing?" Fox asked as Relics started patting himself down as if he was searching for something.

'_Checking to see if your mother stole my soul.'_

"I think I forgot my credit chit." Relics lied and then pulled it out of his pocket once he was sure that there were no paranormal wounds on his body where a vile harpy might have stolen his soul. "Never mind, here it is."

"Worried you might have to take a cab home?" Fox chuckled as he led Relics to his room to diffuse and talk for a quick minute.

"Not as worried as I am that your mom will send me home in a body bag." Relics admitted in the safety of Fox's room. "When you said that your mom didn't like humans, you forgot to mention that she_, hated_ humans." The human said as stressfully as one could without burning their throat. "I could literally feel my body being torn to shreds by her mental claws."

"Don't worry, once we get some food in her, she'll be a bit more lax." Fox hoped.

Relics nodded but started looking around Fox's room. Nothing too special, a TV, a nice sized bed, a desk with a computer, a dresser, posters on the walls, a shelf with some pretty interesting gadgets and rocks, and there was even a blaster mounted on the wall. Pretty cool room, kind of like how his own room back on Mar Sara used to be. Nothing too fancy, just a bit of his personality.

"Okay so, mom isn't all that impressed, but as long as you keep staying all cool and nonchalant but at the same time formal, she'll start to warm up." Fox explained.

'_Sure! And maybe I can be smart yet oblivious, outgoing but mild mannered, and then I will kiss some poisonous tarantulas!'_

"Uh huh." Relics said looking at the papers on Fox's desk which the vulpine was quick to cover up. "Is that tonight's homework?"

The vulpine started turning red. "Yes it is. I was planning on finishing it tomorrow."

'_I hope you also planned on correcting problems one, two, seven, eight, nine, and eleven through fourteen as well.'_ Relics thought. _'I hate math as much as the next guy, but even I know that you have to divide the square root of a hundred and eighty before you can start factoring X and Y into the radius of a sphere that spins on a thirty degree axis.'_

"We should get back downstairs before we're missed." Fox declared before putting his papers back on his desk upside down so unwanted eyes couldn't see.

'_If your mom gets near me, you can bet she won't miss me with whatever is in her hands.'_

When the duo got back downstairs, they found Vixy and Christa at the table talking and enjoying some mother daughter time. Once Relics came into the room, it was like he sat down between the two of them and started talking about how great he was in a threesome. They stopped and looked at him with strange looks. If there was one thing Relics hated, it was being stared or looked at.

"Hey ladies." Fox said and walked to the table. He sat down across from them and motioned for Relics to sit by him. Relics obliged and sat down, making sure to keep his eyes away from the venomous vixen.

Fox cleared his throat. "So Christa, how was school today?"

"Good." She replied as she watched Relics with her utmost concentration. It was hard to tell what she was thinking because the mind of a five year old is so wild and difficult. Unlike her mother however, Christa did not hate or fear the human, rather, she was curious. No one at school looked like he did, all white, no fur, feathers or scales, he didn't have a tail, and where was his muzzle?

"What did you do today?" Fox asked, trying desperately to break the ice. He wanted his mother to get over her fears and hatred for humans, and Relics was certainly a person she'd like. In a months time, Relics had made his mark in the gang, one that Fox would hate to see leave when school was over and he was sent back home.

"Finger-paint." She replied, her curious green eyes still drilling into an uncomfortable human.

"Ooh finger-painting." Relics quirked up, trying to help Fox. "We used to do that in school when I was your age."

"How nice." Vixy added with a dry tone.

Relics shivered when he saw the vixen's claws were bared. Apparently she had what Relics was told to be, mother bear syndrome. Mothers in general are quite protective of their children, but Cornerians could develop mother bear syndrome, and may God be merciful on your soul because the mother sure won't be. He knew now that it would be best to not talk to Christa that much, and to watch his mouth around her.

"So Fox, um…" Relics said turning his focus from Christa to Fox. "Do you know if Bill ever found that sock he was looking for?"

Fox shook his head. "No, the search continues."

"Dinner's ready!" James said while carrying a large pan of tortellini.

'_Thank God! If I really had to talk about Bill's nasty ass sock I threw away in the garbage when he his back was turned, I'd snap.'_

"It looks great dear." Vixy said warmly to her husband.

"So Relics, ever have tortellini before?" James asked as he got to him and started serving him.

"No Mr. McCloud." Relics replied just as a big serving was put on his plate. _'Mother of God! I can't swallow all of that!'_

"Just James Relics." The vulpine laughed and put yet even more food on Relics' plate.

"If you'd like Mr. James." Relics replied as he gawked at the mass of food on his plate.

"Oh great, another comedian!" James laughed as he sat down to serve himself now that everyone had been served. "Where do you find these guys Fox?"

The vulpine shrugged. "Sometimes on the streets telling jokes for food. I only take the ones with the prettiest signs."

'…'

"Figures by the looks of _some_ of them." Vixy said looking right at Relics.

All Vixy's acidic venom came shooting at Relics, unprovoked. Taking the high road, Relics swallowed that insult with the help of biting his bottom lip savagely. He took no offense of it, even though it was meant, but when people call him names he is quick to retaliate. Even if he got into a raging cuss war with someone, he'd cool down after a few hours and be just fine with that person.

"Some of them huh, mom?" Fox asked with flared ears at his mother. As much as he loved his mother, he hated the bitch that had replaced her. If Relics was Cornerian he'd have been greeted with open arms.

"Yes dear, some of them." Vixy said and casually returned to her food.

The last thing Relics wanted to do was talk and possibly allow Vixy to get a shot in at him, so he kept to his food mostly. Relics had been on Corneria and had been eating Cornerian food for so long that he no longer hated it, in fact he was quite used to it as long as he didn't think about what he was eating too much. He thanked James and complimented how delicious it was, but Vixy wouldn't let even that go by.

"What kind of foods do you have back where you came from?" She asked.

"Well Mrs. McCloud. My people had food like this but our government mandated that we eat meals that are ready to eat made for civilians. They taste like the real thing but they're better for you." Relics explained courteously and politely.

"Why in the world would anyone be stupid enough to obey such an invasive law?" Vixy growled.

"I'm told that it was to combat obesity and medical problems from unhealthy eating Mrs. McCloud."

"More like lack of sense and control if you can't decide what's healthy and not." Vixy snapped at no one in general.

James and Fox were glaring at Vixy while Relics just smiled. "How true. Might I ask how your people combats obesity ma'am? You _are _a nurse so I'm not wrong for asking am I?"

"No." Vixy said, her eyes barely slits now. "My kind exercises and has self control."

'_Always a crack at my race, huh?'_ Relics thought growing heavily impatient with all her cracks at his race. They were subtle and it would not benefit anyone to start something over it, so he kept his anger held tight at the reigns. Besides, Vixy was a smart and devious woman, that, he could tell. If he tried to start an argument, then there was a good chance she could manipulate the argument and turn him into the bad guy, mothers were notorious for that, or so he was told having never had a mom, just a dad.

"The only right way, truly." Relics replied trying to brown nose a bit, but there was no way he was getting anywhere near her pants. Vixy hated him and there was no way she was going to let go of her hatred for him and his kind.

Time wore on and dinner progressed painfully. Vixy was smart and kept her comments just behind the line of plain offensive, yet every one of them started digging under Relics' skin like scabies. They itched long after they burrowed deep within, and how he longed to scratch them with insults of his own. With all her insults going unchallenged, Relics began to grow impatient.

"So just exactly how long are you supposed to be here anyway?" Vixy asked.

"A month after school gets out next summer ma'am." Relics replied, his hand nearly crushing the metal fork he held.

"That's good to know." Vixy said almost cutting him off. "I'm sure things will be much better around here when you leave."

Fox's and James' guts clenched at that last comment and Relics' spork suddenly hitting his plate in a metal clamor. He had finally had it with all her passive aggressive comments. What might seem petty and miniscule was cutting him deeper then flat out calling humans evil.

"What do you mean by that?" Relics asked and for the first time did not speak to her formally.

"I mean once you're gone things will finally calm down and everyone will get over this human fascination." Vixy replied keeping her cool while she barely managed to contain her exaltation. He was playing right into her hands and soon she'd show her family just how humans really were deep down in their cold, blackened hearts.

"Human fascination?"

"No matter what, you seem to be in everyone's faces. We're always watching everything you do like you were a prophet or something. With you gone and out of the picture, we can focus on the real issues, like what is to be done with your kind."

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?" Relics asked going redder and redder in the face.

"She means that-" Fox began, hoping to rescue the situation, but was cut off by his mother.

"Don't interrupt me Fox." Vixy snapped. "What I mean, is that we can not simply let you get away with what you did. So many lives were taken from us and-"

"Vixy! That's enough!" James commanded for her sake. Relics was shooting venom from his eyes and bristling with rage. The vulpine didn't want to, but if he had to he'd take him down to make sure his family was protected, no matter how much one might deserve a slap to the face.

In an instant, Fox, Relics, James, and Vixy shot up to their feet. Fox and James were ready to restrain Relics and Vixy, while Relics and Vixy were ready to draw blood.

Fuming with rage Relics lifted a hand at Vixy. She readied herself for the fight of her life, but instead of attacking he merely pointed.

"Don't you dare think you lost more!" Relics whispered as his ability to speak had suffered from his torrent of anger. "You may have lost thousands, but your kind meaninglessly slaughtered _millions_ of innocent people that day. We are _still_ pulling charred bodies of children out of the ruins of our cities." The human continued as hot tears now burned down his face. "Like many, I no longer have a family because of what your kind did. So if you _ever _try to make _us_ atone for what we did in retaliation, you can expect a Hell worse than any in your history to rain down on you. Then maybe you will know what it's like to have everyone you've ever loved murdered in front of you."

Without another word, the human removed himself from the table, grabbed his coat and left.

The family was stricken to say in the least.

Fox was unsure whether he was angrier at his mom or if he was angrier with himself for bringing him over when he fully knew how his mother got when she had a grudge.

James was relieved that things didn't escalate, but was incredibly disappointed with how everything went down. He loved his wife, loved her to death, but never had he dreamed she was capable of such hurtful words. Almost thirty thousand Cornerian soldiers were killed, but dozens of human cities were leveled as well, killing untold numbers. Hell, they were lucky that the humans accepted the peace offering even after all that had happened on Mar Sara.

As for Vixy, she could hardly take any pleasure in her supposed victory. Yes she had managed to make the human explode at her, but not the way she had hoped. She wanted to reveal the darkness in every human heart, but all she had managed to bring out was pain.

"Damn it!" Fox swore before chasing after the human.

James sighed. "Vixy…" He said looking her straight in the eyes but shook his head.

That hurt the vixen. She had expected James to be at her side in all this, but he was siding with that human. Not that she couldn't blame him. She too was starting to have second thoughts of her brutal attack on him. All night she had been belittling him, provoking him, and eventually caused him to snap. In her overzealous assault, the real monster was revealed.

The vulpine left the dining room and went to clean up dinner while Vixy went to the living room to think. Christa on the other hand was concerned. The strange creature was crying and she felt bad for him. She knew he must be hurt or sad about something that her mommy must have said. Somehow it got into her mind to make him feel better. So without a word to her parents, young Christa set out to find the human.

Vixy sighed. "I messed up, didn't I James?"

"Well," James replied, not the least bit amused with his wife's antics. "Considering he will never set want to set foot in this house again, I'd say yeah, you messed up Vixy."

She bit her lips. "But his kind-"

There came a smash from the kitchen that made the vixen jump and James stormed into the living room. "Vixy!" He exclaimed. "He's a kid! His family was killed and thanks to you, he's even more alone then before! I honestly can't believe the woman I fell in love with would try to hurt someone like that!"

"I just wanted to-" She whimpered but truth be told, she didn't know what she wanted anymore. If she could take back the pain she inflicted on him then she would.

"Wanted to what? Show Christa its okay to break somebody because you don't like their species? Is that what you wanted?" James growled.

The vixen began to sob. "I'm sorry James." She cried.

A sour taste coated the vulpine's tongue. This was not helping anything or anyone. He sighed and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his paw before moving to his wife. Never in his life had he ever struck his wife but when he calmly reached out a hand, she flinched away as if he beat her every day.

"Vixy." James sighed and sat by his wife on the couch. "I know you're angry with his kind, but we can't hold on to your hate, it will only destroy us. I can see you regret your actions but the deeds still remain." James said and then wrapped her in his arms. "I can forgive you for what you did, but you _have_ to apologize, even if your pride refuses."

"I know James." Vixy whispered into his chest. "What he said… I didn't- I didn't." She repeated but couldn't finish. Those eyes were haunting her.

"I know Vixy." James assured. "I didn't know until tonight either."

"He doesn't have anyone? Why did he even come here? Surely he hates us as much as anyone could?" Vixy asked.

"Maybe, but whatever the reasons, I'm glad he's here. He can really make or break this peace accord, and that's why it's so important we apologize." James affirmed.

The vixen wiped her eyes and nodded. "You're right. I still don't like them but, if I have to then… wait. James. James!" Vixy said starting to look around frantically. "Where's Christa?"

~X~X~X~X~

"Jason." Relics said wiping his eyes with his freehand. "I'm sorry to bother you right now but I need a ride home."

The German Sheppard was sweaty, tired looking, and probably still in the middle of something with his wife, but one look at the distressed human and everything shifted to him.

"Sure bud, where are you? Are you okay?" Jason asked as he got out of bed. Relics could see some things in the background of the holographic display including his naked wife Chloe, but Relics was so upset at the moment he didn't even care.

"I'm… fine." Relics lied. Vixy hadn't made the cut to his core; she merely broke the wall for old memories to come flooding back. Mental scabs that were covered with repression Band-Aids were now breaking open and bleeding heavily.

"No you're not." Jason growled. "Just stay where you are, I'll be there in five minutes. Where are you?" Jason asked.

The human looked for a street sign, but all he saw were people staring and gawking at him like usual. "The fuck are you looking at!" He demanded to know.

No one answered him. They just stared and whispered amongst each other. It was too much for the young human. He'd managed to bear it all before now but he was melting down and his body was rapidly adopting the fight or flight status, and he had been saving a can of whoop-ass for the longest time now. The first person who pulled out a goddamn camera would regret it.

Just as a foolish bystander started reaching for his phone and Relics moved in to attack, a voice called out his name.

"Relics! Wait up a second."

Relics quickly wiped his face again to remove any remaining tear marks before facing Fox.

"Yeah. What do you want?" He asked distastefully. There was nothing he wanted less then to be acquainted with the McCloud family at the moment.

Fox had been running to catch up with Relics and he quickly jogged up next to him. He looked around and noticed everyone watching. That was something that followed Relics everywhere, an uncountable number of eyes watching and following his every move. If he was in Relics' position, he'd have gone insane after the first week with all this attention.

"I'm sorry for what my mother said. I honestly did not know she was capable of being such a bitch. You don't have to walk home though; I can give you a ride." Fox said in undertone so that no one else but he and Relics would be able to hear.

"I've already got a ride." Relics snapped and returned to his phone call with Jason, who was still waiting for Relics to give an address where he was. "I'm on Bickford and Madura Jason."

"Be right there Relics, five minutes." Jason reassured even though he was half a city away from where Relics was. Still, Jason would move that entire half of the city to get to Relics, it was his sworn duty to protect Relics and make sure he made it through the streets of Corneria alright. He had no idea Relics had left his home and would scold the human once he felt better.

"Are you sure?" Fox asked.

"Yes!" Relics snapped. "I don't need you or your family to-"

A loud horn blaring stopped Relics mid sentence. Everyone looked to the source of the noise and their blood ran cold. Just a down the street, Christa was crossing the street in heavy traffic. Many of the cars were going to fast and were swerving to avoid her but it was a close miss every time at best. Even from such a distance, Relics could see how frightened the child was as tears dripped down her furry cheeks.

"CHRISTA!" Relics heard someone shriek far off.

"No!" Fox said and started running for his little sister as fast as he could.

'_That crazy bastard, he'll be killed!'_ Relics thought as he watched Fox run off. The human had half a mind to turn around but he was rooted to his spot. He couldn't just walk away from this.

"If I die saving a life, then I've done more with mine then I could have."

'_Dad.'_ Relics thought before tearing off after Fox, passing him within mere seconds.

Relics ran faster than he thought possible with the Suppressor on. He disregarded his safety and everything just to save the little life precariously dangling in the busy street. There was no explaining why he ran to save her when he could see the car barreling at her at high speed. He wasn't even able to explain it himself, but he propelled himself to Christa.

Somehow he was able to dash across the street without getting hit himself even as cars barreled by. When he reached Christa, he saw an oncoming car quickly approaching. He realized there was no way he'd be able to grab her and jump out of the way in time. The horn of the car sang his and Christa's imminent death but there was no way he was going to let a child die in his presence.

Vixy and James were on the other side and had made it to the edge of the street before their daughter came flying at them. The vixen caught her daughter, obscuring her vision before she heard a loud slam.

'_Shit.'_ Relics thought as his body went flying up in the air. He hit the asphalt and rolled several feet away. Traffic stopped when the human was hit and already people were swarming around him. Blood leaked out of cuts and scrapes all over his body, his eyes were barely open but he could see Vixy crying as she hugged her daughter.

'_Least I went out with a bang. With my life I saved another. Best trade of my life sadly. God damn it. I better die in a dignified position at least. I can't believe I crossed half the galaxy for this shit.'_ Relics thought before everything went black.

~X~X~X~X~

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, what an ending huh? Anyways I wanted to point out the reasoning for humans eating MRE's in the future and how it was the government who decreed such a thing. If you live in America then you'll know about the trans-fat ban, and that's where the whole MRE mandate in this story came from. Just wanted to clear up an old plot hole from way, way back. Back to Relics, he got hit by a car! He's dead… or is he? We'll find out next chapter… or will we?**_

_**Also, Sly Cooper: Deus Ex Machina. Shameless self advertising.**_


	22. Your Life Flashes Before Your Eyes

"Rise and shine soldier! It's five AM and time for a run!"

Fox's blue eyes opened and glowed red around the iris. The boy groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore his obnoxious father. Every morning it was the same thing however, wake up at five, run a mile and a half, and then a quick breakfast at a diner before another mile and a half run. Sure it kept him in shape, but at what cost to his mental health?

"C'mon Fox! You know you're going to wake up, 'cause if you don't I'll go get Shela!" Fox's dad warned as he shook his son awake.

In a heartbeat the human jumped up out of bed. "You bring that thing in here, and I'll break your legs old man!"

The man laughed and patted his son on the back. "Oh come on Foxy, she likes you. She would never bite you with those large, dripping, sharp, poisonous spider fangs!"

Fox shivered at the thought and started searching through his dresser for some fresh clothes for today's run. He pulled out some shorts and a clean white T-shirt before looking back at his sniggering father.

"Do you mind you old pervert?"

"Okay, but make it quick. I've got a new route I want to try today with you. Bring bug-spray." The man said before leaving the teen's room.

Fox groaned and rubbed his temples. If he had to run through another goddamn swamp then he'd lose it. What was wrong with going to some school track field early in the morning and running around it a few times?

When Fox came out dressed and ready to go, his father was already standing by the door. "Alright then, let's go."

The boy yawned and scratched himself. "Okay dad."

Sure enough, Fox's dad had them run through a swamp. Because he didn't heed his father's advice, he was eaten up by the horrible swamp insects of Mar Sara. If Mar Sara was known for something, it was the ninja mosquitoes that would land, make a cut, and return a few seconds later to lap up the blood. They didn't leave annoying bumps like their Earthen cousins, but they could cut you up bad enough to seek medical attention if you weren't careful.

Once their run was complete, Fox's father took them on base to eat because there he got a discount, what being an officer and all.

"You really need a haircut Fox." His father commented as they waited for their eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

The boy ran his sweaty hand through his sandy blonde hair. "Sure pops, just as soon as I enlist and get shipped out for boot camp." He said and his hair fell back into his eyes.

"You'll look like a girl by then." His father argued. "They'll _love_ you in boot camp."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Especially since I'm the son of an officer. Thanks by the way, I'm sure I'll love doing all the extra push-ups because I'm the son of Lieutenant Commander Relics McCloud."

Fox's father stared off into space and rubbed his clean shaven chin. "I wonder how many more you'd get if I got another promotion?"

"Please don't!" Fox begged just as their food arrived. "Or at least wait until I get out of basic. Thanks gorgeous." He finished turning to the waitress.

"Anytime Fox." A young girl said and winked at him. As she walked away, her hand lingered on his shoulder. There was no way she was eighteen yet, and looked to be about Fox's age. She had snowy white hair and misty grey eyes signaling she was enhanced, which stood out even more against her auburn skin. She was beautiful and her body was alright, not perfect and voluptuous like you'd see in a Playboy, but she was still damn attractive in Fox's sea blue eyes.

Relics watched the girl walk off and then back to his son. "Well, well, well. Got an eye for the enhanced do you? I heard they're astounding in the sack. You should go ask her out."

Fox scoffed. "Whatever dad. First off, you'd take all my food if I got up, and secondly, I already did."

Relics' eyebrow cocked as he gave his son a mischievous look. "Well, well, well. My boy likes the taste of tang after all! And here I thought you only ate cock."

"Keep talking like that dad and I'll make sure you wind up in a retirement home." Fox snapped at his dad playfully. "And for your information, those rumors about enhanced girls in bed are _all_ true. She rocked my world a hundred times over."

"Oh really?" Relics asked and looked back at the young girl. "I might have to pick one up for myself next shore leave. Just wrap it son, I ain't raising no more damn kids as ugly as you."

"Yeah, and a great job you did by the way." Fox scoffed sarcastically.

"Now don't start that, you don't have any more emotional scarring then other kids." Relics argued.

"True." Relics agreed. "But how many other kids are taught how to kill a man six different ways from their father by age nine? How many kids are taught how to shoot a bird's eye from fifty yards? For all you know, you could have come home and found that I murdered half my school before being gunned down by SEALS."

"Like they'd send in the SEALS for you. A babysitter and a fresh diaper is all they'd send in to neutralize you." Relics laughed.

Fox just squinted at his dad. "Touché old man, touché."

'_Oh dad, always a treat when you're here.'_ Fox thought as he returned to his food.

~X~X~X~X~

Fox stroked his girlfriend's snow white hair as she rested on his bare chest. She sighed and slowly started to doze off with a bright smile on her face. It took a few more strokes but she was finally out cold and this allowed Relics to get up. He moved carefully so not to disturb her, but when he got out of bed he left his room to get a drink.

His dad shipped out last week on a special mission to investigate some strange radio signals coming from a not too far off solar system. It sucked when he left but it wasn't something new. Relics would often be shipped out with only a day's notice and would be gone for months at a time sometimes. Still, Fox managed to get by with him gone. Now that he was older, he didn't need someone to watch him, and with the Navy feeding, lodging, and clothing him, what else did he need? Well, he could think of a few things, but most of them were taken care of by a beautiful woman asleep in his bed.

Fox opened the fridge and scanned it for something to drink.

'_Let's see, apple juice, soda, purple stuff- OH HEY! Oh wait… never mind it's just orange juice.'_ Fox sighed and reached in for it anyways. Since there were no parental units around, Fox took a big swig off the bottle of OJ and put it back.

He just closed the fridge when a small noise snuck up on him.

"Drinking without a glass? Naughty boy." A feminine voice cooed behind him just before something soft and warm pressed against his back.

"Walking around my house without clothes? Now who's the naughty one?" Fox countered and turned around once her grip and loosened on him. "Did I wake you?" He asked before kissing his sleepy compatriot.

"Yes you did with that your stomping around." She scowled but kissed him back anyways.

"Sorry, I tried to be quiet. It doesn't help when you have super ears." Fox grinned. "Can you forgive me Adeline?"

Adeline sighed. "Only if you come back to bed."

'_Well that was easy, that's like asking me to breathe. Next you'll only forgive me if I- whoa girl! That's sensitive!'_

~X~X~X~X~

Fox gazed at the grave with a dead look on his face. His father rested down under a grave, lifeless. It all happened so fast that Fox couldn't believe it. Weeks ago Fox was on base just enjoying the day when bombs rained down from the sky. Fox ran as fast as he could but then the soldiers landed. The city the base was in was falling all around him, and people were gunned down in the streets. The memories flooded Fox's mind and he clenched his eyes shut, trying desperately to force them out of his head. His dad came looking for him but wound up finding a squad of Cornerian storm troopers. Fox tried desperately to get to his father and help him, but he wasn't fast enough. He was never fast enough.

"Fox McCloud?" Fox flinched and looked up at the chief petty officer. "The Chancellor will see you now."

The boy stood up from his chair and followed the chief. He felt numb to the esteemed honor of meeting with the most powerful man in the Human Union Republic. Ever since his dad died, things just weren't right with him. He missed his dad, and those damn aliens that killed him got off scot free. Most everyone had turned the other cheek in hopes of forging a peaceful affair with the alien race known as the Cornerians. After all the death and destruction they wrecked on Mar Sara, Fox only wanted revenge. But what did the inner colonies care about some backwater, wayward colony with only twelve or so million inhabitants?

When Fox entered the room, every one of the chancellor's guards tensed. Fox knew he wouldn't be able to make it two steps at the chancellor without getting taken out with extreme prejudice.

The chancellor was an older man with graying hair, aged hazel eyes, and brown colored skin. Fox guessed he was of some Latino line, but he wasn't sure. His knowledge of human races and ancestry didn't stack up too well since he'd never set foot on Earth until today, and most civilizations of the past were too boring to look into.

"Good evening Mr. McCloud." The Chancellor greeted the young man as if he were important.

"Mr. Chancellor." Fox replied.

"Let me start off by offering my condolences, your father was a great man and his sacrifice saved many. I promise you he won't be forgotten." He said but Fox was too numb to care. "I don't wish to hold you for too long, but I would not have called you so early after your father's death had I no other choice."

The old man looked to his guards. "Leave us." He said and they acknowledged his order. They filed out in seconds and the door shut behind them.

"Mr. McCloud, I know you are probably the last person I should be asking, but that's why you're the first I am asking." The Chancellor continued and turned away from the boy to look out the window. He motioned for Fox to join him. "You see McCloud; we are teetering on the brink. In a few months who knows where we'll be. The attack on Mar Sara, and the immediate retraction of the Cornerians has put us in a delicate situation."

"How so Mr. Chancellor?" Fox asked as he gazed down at the beautiful blue planet.

"No one truly wants a war with an alien race. Only unspeakable destruction will happen as a result. Negotiations with the Cornerians has been, tense to say in the least. That is why we need to learn more about them."

"Like a spy sir?"

The Chancellor nodded. "In a way, but not quite. We need a brave soul to live amongst them and learn about their ways and cultures."

Fox cocked an eyebrow, knowing just where this conversation was heading. "You want me?"

"Yes." The Chancellor said after a deep sigh. "It is shameless to ask this of you, especially after everything they've taken from you but you're the only one that we can find that fits the criteria."

For the first time in two weeks Fox felt something other then a deadened feeling, he felt angry, he felt outraged, he felt appalled. Did he honestly think that he'd agree to this? There was no way in Hell he'd tolerate the presence of a Cornerian, let alone agree to live with them.

Fox opened his mouth to refuse but he was cut off.

"You're an eligible candidate for the Helios program, did you know that? Your genetic makeup would allow you to survive the changes and become more than what you are. Your training with your father, your marksmanship, and your physical makeup makes you the perfect candidate for what we have planned once you've received the enhancements."

"What exactly do you have planned, sir?" Fox asked, letting the Chancellor explain himself before refusing.

"Well, we plan on sending a genetically enhanced human to live with the Cornerians for one whole year. The Cornerians are open to this idea and have agreed to it. We can't send a female, and we need someone who is young enough to go to one of their schools. By their standards you are sixteen and when you leave you'll just be turning seventeen in their eyes. Therefore you can go to school."

"An exchange student?" Fox gapped. "You want me to become a foreign exchange student!"

The Chancellor sighed but nodded. "Yes."

Fox's initial reaction was to explode in the man's face, but he didn't. The man in front of him was the most powerful man in known space. So, biting back his simmering rage, Fox replied with a calm grace.

"Sir, I'm thankful for your consideration, but I have to refuse."

"I thought as much." The Chancellor sighed then waved his hand. "You are free to leave. But before you go, ask yourself. Your father would make the stand and lead when no one else would; will his son do the same and do his father proud?"

"You have no right talking about my father, _sir._" Fox spat venomously.

The old man didn't say anything as Fox stormed out, he just let him go and hoped his gamble would pay off. As luck would have it, just a month later the largest surge of recruits and military spending in human history erupted. The whole human race was on the edge of their seats, wondering if and when war would be declared. It got so bad that Fox began to see what the Chancellor meant before he left. The human exchange student idea was publicized, but amongst the fourteen billion populace, not one person eligible stepped forward.

Fox eventually succumbed to guilt and duty, and volunteered. The process of altering his DNA so that he would be superior was long and painful. A mistake was made that wound up saving his life but also created the side effect of using his enhanced vision too long. After a few months of rehabilitation, Fox was sent through sixteen weeks of rigorous training in hand-to-hand, marksmanship, social behavior, and study of the Cornerian race.

The day of his departure, thousands of people collaborated to see him off. He didn't know even a dozen amongst them, as most the people he knew were killed just a little over a year ago. It was a reassuring feeling knowing that he was in the thoughts and prayers of so many people for a safe return, and at the same time it didn't help much. They'd be millions of light-years away; all the hopes and prayers in the universe didn't do anything for such a vast divide. They especially didn't do a thing when he got hit by a car and was teetering on the brink of life and death with every second that ticked by.


	23. Just Before You Die

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, sorry about last chapter but I had to do it to get everyone to STFU on Relics' back-story. Anyways, this chapter is also a bit off topic for the first half, but entirely canon. I decided, fuck it! This is possibly the last chapter update for this story for a LONG time. Shipping out REAL soon people. This is an extra funny chapter though, a going away present to all my loyal fans, and the lesser and insolent ones that will be punished when I get back.**_

_**Anyways , hope you enjoy, thanks for everything, this probably won't be my last story update, Second Honeymoon is almost ready, and Padawan is taking off just now (little too late though). I'll try to get a good part going for it. Thanks peeps, for everything! You've been good to me these past two years, you've all shaped me into a better author and Hell, maybe one day a spark of originality might kick me in the crotch and I'll publish something?**_

_**One last note, SabreWolferos, author of Cerinia, will be needing a new beta-reader. He isn't completely fluent in English but is damn good, regardless, you're going to have to put in some extra work. He's a good author and I've enjoyed doing it for him. So if anyone is looking for beta-reader work, send him a PM, you have my thanks.**_

_**Gonna miss this, end of an era of my life. I've read a lot of promising works of late though, so I know I'm not taking all the life out of Star Fox fan fic… just ninety nine percent of it. Just kidding! Just kidding. You know me; toot my own horn for a quick joke. I hope to come back one day so try not to forget little ol' Sani. Who knows though? Maybe I'll contract gout and they'll push my shipping date?**_

_**For real this time though, thanks all; you've done me good, have a good one, LATER PEEPS… oh and enjoy the semi-final chapter of Star Fox: Exchange Student! At least till I get back.**_

_**~X~X~X~X~**_

Silver grey eyes shot open as screams were audible all around him. There came a roar so loud and violent that he moved to cover his ears, but his body wasn't responding very well. His bodily functions returned just a second too late, as the roar had ended the second he covered his frozen ears.

"What the Hell?" Fox coughed and managed to force his heavy body up. When he managed to sit up and look around, he couldn't believe his eyes. All around there was an old world of medieval era, but that wasn't what shocked him, but it was his father alive and well barking orders to the archers that were letting loose arrows into the sky.

"Dad?" Fox asked, hardly believing it was really his father and that dressed in a modern day officer's uniform and not some medieval garb.

"Fox!" His father shouted over the loud roar, before ducking behind the stone beam holding up the temple of worship he and his archers had taken position behind. Some of the archers were rather unlucky and didn't move in time before a torrent of flame engulfed them; incinerating them and leaving only their metal blades that were at their hips before their untimely ends.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" Fox shouted before he felt his arm being pulled and his body moved under cover of a horse's stable. He frantically looked to see who was pulling him and saw it was none other then the Cornerian Bill Grey.

'_It's finally happened, I've lost my mind… even more then I already have!'_

"Bill what- what's going-" The human teen struggled, but the loud roar once again drowned him out.

"No time Relics! That thing's killing us left and right! Unless you want to end up like those archers, you better get your ass moving!" Bill shouted and cocked an arrow before shooting it over Fox's head.

The human flinched and covered his head as if the arrow might somehow defy gravity and the laws of motion, and shoot right down into his head.

Finally Fox's dad, Relics, came back, singed but alive.

"Dad!" Fox exclaimed, enthralled to see his father, despite the severity of the situation.

Fox's father stopped in his tracks and gapped at his son. A look of bewilderment and horror crossed his face. Only the loud cry brought him back, otherwise he might have stared at the confused face of his son all day and night.

"Bill! Get up on that wall and cover our retreat!" Relics ordered which Bill obeyed without hesitation. When he was gone his attention was once again returned to Fox. "Fox… just what the Hell are you doing here?"

Fox's mouth dropped and he couldn't answer for a while. "I think so! My life flashed before my eyes a few minutes ago and I woke up here just now! What the fuck is going on! Am I dead?"

Relics looked around and pulled out his gun that was at his left hip. "No boy, you're not dead, at least not yet. You're still fighting, but I'm afraid that if you die here then you die for real."

'_Someone get two pairs of straightjackets, both me and dad need them please.'_

Before Fox could point out how stupid that sounded, His dad hauled him up to his feet. "You've come to a crossroad son, whether you live or die is your choice."

"Dad! You're not making any sense!" Relics protested but his father ignored him.

"That dragon out there-"

"THERE'S A FUCKING DRAGON!" Fox shouted.

"Of course there is! What? Did you think that was Lana ordering you to get in bed with her and plow her brains out!" His dad snapped making him go red at the awkwardness. "Listen to me you screw-up! If that dragon gets you, you die! Your only chance is to run! I'll hold it off!" Relics declared and tried to leave but Fox grabbed his arm.

"No! No, I won't let you die again!" Fox yelled over the hunting cry of the dragon that was circling overhead, laying waste to the medieval buildings with its terrible flames.

"Get off my Fox!" Relics snapped and shook his son's hand off, but on either instinct or some unknown guide, Fox reached for the sword at his hip that he didn't know was there, and held it to his dad's throat.

"Dad… I will cut your damn legs off before I let you die again for me." Fox growled as his eyes watered. "You shouldn't have died in the first place. It's all my fault you died, don't die on me again!"

Relics stared at his crying son. Yes he was tearing up like a girl that got dumped the night of prom, but that look in his eyes told a different story. He really _would_ cut his legs off to stop him. He was hurt, but he was ready to take action, and stop his father at all costs just to save his life.

"Well… I guess I don't have any other choice." Relics sighed. Fox had half a second to let that sink in before he felt himself being wrapped in a strong embrace. "I don't blame you Fox, and I never will. I might just be a self projected version of myself as the result of dying brain cells… but I know that you know that I gladly died to protect the one good thing in my life. I never told you this enough son, but I love you, and I am damn proud of the man you've become."

Only a few things had ever shattered the foundations of Fox' core, but his pseudo-father's words had thunderstruck his very being. His father's death had been tearing him apart inside, but hearing him say that brought him true and utter serenity. He had always known that his father didn't regret sacrificing himself, but his nightmares, fears, and doubts never let him come to terms with it. Now though, he felt whole again, and able to get on with his life.

"No dad, I'm nothing to be proud of." Fox sighed.

"Why? Cause you spooned with that Lana girl?" Relics asked which made Fox instantly burn red. "I don't care son, she's a fine ass girl, she makes you happy, and just cause she's Cornerian doesn't mean you should feel bad for using her to make the bed squeak. If you want to form an intimate relationship with her, then do it and know that I don't care either way. But you better take care of her, she's something a man meets only once in his life and you'll regret losing her for the rest of your life. And please, for the love of God! Wrap it before you tap that furry piece of ass you got there. I ain't raising no damn kids as fucked up as you!"

"I…. Thanks dad." Fox replied before he returned the embrace. It didn't last nearly as long as he'd have liked, but it had to do for the dragon was getting closer and closer with his consuming flame. "So how do I get out of here?"

Relics shrugged. "Survive this I guess. Now come on, we've got to get out of Skyrim before-"

"What did you say?" Fox interrupted his father who was at the moment trying to pull his son away to safety.

"I said we have to get out of Skyrim! That dragon is going to kill us if we don't move now!"

'_My crossroad is my favorite video game! How fucking screwed up in the head am I exactly! You know what? Don't answer that. I _know_ I'm one messed up puppy.'_

"Did you hear me? Let's get going!" Relics snapped as he tugged his son's arm but Fox yanked his arm away.

"No dad. This time, I've got _you_ covered." Fox smirked and walked out from the concealing shelter towards the flying beast in the sky. "Trust me dad, I've got this."

Relics smiled as he watched his son walk towards certain doom, and yet he was not the least bit concerned. "Alright son, it's your funeral. But tell me, did you get what you wanted out of all this?"

"I have now." Fox replied calmly. "I know that this isn't real but, it's just what I needed. I finally got to say goodbye."

"This isn't goodbye son, far from it. See you on the other side." Relics called out to his son before he got out of earshot.

By now the dragon had spotted him. It had grown tired of using its breath of flames and so it dove at the small insignificant creature foolish enough to show itself. As the scaled monster came closer and closer, Fox did not waver, he kept walking towards the winged demon. Just as the dragon opened its mouth and expected to enjoy a small snack, its left wing felt like it was torn in two, and the dragon lost its lift and smashed into the ground.

Fox exhaled and flicked some of the dragon blood off his sword. Live or die, it didn't matter, so long as his dad made it out unharmed. Certain death seemed to be the only end result as the dragon was now on its four legs and teaming with anger. Its nostrils billowed out smoke and flame, its eyes shot lighting into Fox's soul, and the earth quaked with the vengeful spasms of the dragon's muscles.

The dragon let out a viscous roar before storming over to Fox. The boy had only a second to respond and he took that moment without hesitation. The dragon snapped at him but Fox had already swung a fierce stroke at the monster. Metal met scales and the dragon recoiled in pain as blood flowed from its maw. But Fox didn't stop. He took the fight to the dragon and quickly began hacking and slashing at the great beast, scoring blows across the face, neck, wings and one to the torso.

In a blind fit of rage, the dragon lashed out at Fox who had no time to dodge and was smashed into the ground. Fox coughed a bit before being scooped up by the dragon's powerful grasp, and then smashed once again into the ground. The monster released the done for human and roared in bloody triumph.

Fox could literally feel his existence fading away. It didn't hurt like he expected, but it was confusing as all Hell. He started to hear voices that weren't in his head before. They said things like "vitals are slipping" and "too much trauma".

He felt peaceful, even as the dragon moved to devour him head first.

'_Oh well, I tried. Not like there's anyone who will miss me. Someone got it on video; I'm sure, so the backlash from me people will be soft and understanding.'_ Fox thought as he felt his body being scooped up by the dragon. _'Come on you bastard, let it all end-'_

"_**You're too kind Relics, I… I'm glad I met you."**_

'_Lana?' _Fox thought, wanting to look around but didn't have the strength left to careen his neck around to look.

"_**You're my friend, and you're very special to me."**_

Hot breath washed over his body as he entered the dragon's mouth

"Fus Ro _DAH_!" Fox shouted with all his might. He hardly expected it to work but this was his dream, his crossroad, and he'd be damned if he died and Lana and the rest of his new friends.

The dragon shrieked and dropped Fox as it staggered back as it reeled from the Unyielding Force. Fox hit the ground hard but immediately scrambled to his feet and rushed the dragon, cutting deep lacerations into the beast's vulnerable underbelly. The white beast fell to the ground on its side but continued struggling. The human didn't relent however, as he had climbed onto the dragon and continued slashing, hacking, and stabbing the dragon until it stopped moving.

The warrior panted heavily and jumped off the dragon's stomach. He felt exhausted, but his existence was still intact, that he was sure. Fox stalked over to the once mighty hunter and looked it dead in the eye.

"Do you know who I am?" Fox asked the suffering beast. "I am Fox McCloud, son of Relics McCloud. I'm not dying today, I refuse to die anywhere but home!" He said raising his sword above his head. "When you get to Hell, tell 'em I sent ya, and any other motherfuckers who think they can take me on!"

The sword came down and the world exploded into bright light and an awful noise.

~X~X~X~X~

A horrible pain enveloped the human and he groaned, but in his weakened state, he sounded like he squeaked. His head swam with the messages of pain that his entire body was sending as fast as humanly possible, each one attempting to prove that their pain was worse. Even his ears were in agony, as dozens of voices collaborated together into making his life a living Hell. He heard things in bits and pieces and he knitted them together to realize that they were celebrating he wasn't dead.

'_That's nice of them.'_ The human thought and opened his right eye.

"Welcome back Relics!" A familiar goofy grin said into his face.

Relics rolled his neck to escape the infamous German Sheppard. His neck hurt _a lot_ when he did so, but at least it was worth it to see the lovely face of a familiar minx.

"Hey Relics." Lana smiled at the human. "Looking good."

Relics grunted but his throat hurt so it was barely audible. He closed his eye for just a moment before he felt something soft, warm, and slightly wet touch his cheek. The point of contact burned with delight and he could feel himself go red. He opened both eyes this time and saw that the minx was also a fierce shade of scarlet. His lips twitched at the ends in a fashion of a smile, but he was too out of it to fully commit.

"Keep doing that Lana, I think that worked a bit." Falco sniggered. "Lana's kisses please all bones, broken or other."

This time Relics managed a smile when he heard a thud that was followed by a squawk. Strength seemed to be returning to the human and he tried to sit up. He got about halfway before he was gently eased back by two sets of hands.

"Whoa there bud, you just got T-boned by a car going thirty-five! Just lay there and relax." Jason cooed to the restless human.

Relics made a noise of a gurgle before his voice finally came back to him. "W…What?" He asked through a throat that sounded like it had been polished furiously by metal sandpaper.

"Don't worry though, you're in a hospital. The doctor said you'd make a full recovery in a few days." Another familiar face said as he came into view. The other Fox McCloud looked tired, but come to think of it, so did everyone else in the room. There weren't too many people in the hospital room, just Fox, Lana, Bill, Jason, Falco, and Miyu, every one of them looked dead tired.

"You _were_ pronounced legally dead for a few minutes two days ago, but you pulled through- OW! Bill yipped after another loud thud.

"Bill!" Miyu hissed. "Don't tell him that!"

"Why not? It's cool that he died- not literally though! Not literally!" He added quickly as Miyu threatened to sock the pit-bull. "I mean it's fascinating, really!"

'_Punch that asshole, please.'_

"We've all been at the hospital since the accident." Lana explained, diverting the conversation from Relics' death. "You've been out for three days and the doctors say you should be fine in another four days."

"You're lucky Fox's mom got you here so fast." Jason added. "If we hadn't gotten you here in time, you'd have stayed dead."

"I… died?" Relics murmured and was a bit surprised to find an oxygen mask on his face.

"For about four minutes." Miyu encroached. "Then the docs shot you up with some green jelly that kick started your organs and brain, forcing them to work."

'_Yeah, like that makes sense.'_ Relics thought as he rolled his metaphorical eyes because his real ones were too sore.

"Oh, there's the doctor now. Sorry Relics, we've got to go." Lana said and kissed him once again on the cheek, this time much closer to the lips. "Hang in there Relics, I'll come visit you every chance I get."

"Okay." Relics said dreamily as his burned up inside. He watched her and his friends go, thinking just how lucky he was, then out of nowhere a small prick snuck up on his arm. He grunted but an all too familiar voice greeted him.

"Good night." Vixy said and began to fade away. The last thing he saw was a needle in his arm and a small smile on the vixen's face.

~X~X~X~X~

"I'm only telling you people one more time! Leave now or you _will_ be arrested!" A loud voice woke Relics from his soft sleep.

When he came to, he felt like his body had been hit by a car, but of course he had to be right about that one. He opened his eyes and saw his worst enemy (that wasn't beaten to a bloody pulp) surrounding his bed while military personnel tried to restrain and remove them. Then a soft burning sensation hit the human and he knew what he had to do.

With one groan he silenced the air and froze the room. No one made a move or sound as he sat up and started removing the wires and cords attached to his skin. There was one needle in him and he decided to leave that in. The human yawned and got out of his bed, still taking hardly any notice or care of the world around him. His bandaged legs threatened to buckle but he kept moving to a small door across his bed. He went inside the room with the rolling IV stand and shut the door behind him.

There came the sound of a toilet flushing a few seconds later and the human came out just after, drying his hands. He looked at everyone, blinked and went back to his bed. He pulled the covers over his eyes and went to sleep.

~X~X~X~X~

"Okay, so how are we feeling today Mr. Relics?"

'_Hello-o-o-o nurse!'_ Relics thought as the busty hare came walking up to him with her chart. _'I want in those panties now! And that is totally not all the morphine in my system saying that!'_

"Really good ma'am, I found the morphine button!" Relics boasted proudly and pressed the button again, changing the color of the room for the fourth time today. His eyes were fully dilated and they almost hid the silver entirely implying that he was as high as the fourth of July.

The hare's muzzle dropped as she saw that the bag, which had been full two hours ago, was now almost empty. "Wha… what? Where did all the morphine go?" She asked the grinning and lazy eyed human who was gapping at her bust.

"Go for broke man!" Relics giggled and began snickering uncontrollably. "You're a pretty kitty!" He said and tried to stroke her face as she inspected the charts next to him.

The hare felt uncomfortable and let off a nervous chuckle. "Uh, thank you but I'm presently in a relationship. So if you'd please move your hands… please?" She asked but Relics paid no attention to her voice, which sounded to him like harps playing but they were being drowned out by a guitar.

"Your fur! Your fur is so soft! How are you… how are you doing this? I want to take a shower with you-" he said to which the rabbit recoiled, "-to see what conditioner you use." Relics finished, making it slightly less awkward somehow.

"I beg your pardon!" She gasped stepping back. "I'll have you know that-"

"Damn it!" Relics growled and pushed the morphine button on his bed's arm rest, but the room's color didn't change. "Why, won't, you, work?" Relics demanded to know as he pressed the button harder and harder.

The hare shook her head and quickly left to go fetch someone else to deal with this. When she left Relics called out for her to stay and play checkers with him, but she only scurried off faster. She came back with a doctor and Jason a few minutes later.

"Relics!" Jason groaned. "What did you do now?" He asked but Relics shushed him.

"Shush Jason!" Relics said as he channel surfed on a small television that was turned off. "You're interrupting my soap- GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!" Relics snapped at the doctor as he moved across Relics' line of sight with the TV. The doctor nearly jumped out of his scales but obeyed immediately and Relics instantly became cheery again.

"Relics?" Jason gapped. "What's gotten in to you?"

"He's absorbed enough morphine to kill four people." The doctor reported as he stared at the empty bag. Jason nearly flipped a bitch but the doctor continued before the chance arose. "Luckily for humans, they are more tolerant to pain killers. Although I'm going to have to cut him off or he'll adopt a dependency…. Please stop that."

"You're a pretty kitty!" Relics cooed as he stroked the lizard's face.

"Now really Mr. McCloud-" The doctor started to snap but looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. "oh, hello nurse Vixy."

Instantly, Relics' distorted reality came to a grinding halt. He turned completely pale and looked over to see the darkened vixen in a formal top and skirt. His heart beat monitor began to go haywire as he himself became terrified.

"No! NO! She's come to finish the job, Jason! Quick! Throw me out the window!" Relics shouted and started struggling towards the window, but Jason and the reptilian doctor immediately moved to hold him down.

"Relics just calm down!" Jason protested, but Relics wouldn't hear it and kept struggling.

"Hey, hey!" Came a soft soothing voice that Relics almost refused to believe was possible for a moment. He stopped raging against Jason and the doctor to find a gentle natured vixen standing in front of him.

"It's okay Relics; you don't need to be afraid." She spoke so kindly that it lulled him into a sense of security. He watched her every move, ready to get up and run and then jump out the window if need be. The distorted human almost lost it when she came closer, but she merely pulled his covers up to his chest and tucked him in. "Just get some rest and sleep off all that morphine. We'll start you off on something less addicting tomorrow."

"Okay." Relics replied as quietly as a shy flutter. Almost immediately the human fell asleep.

Jason just stared at the vixen. "You have _got_ to teach me that one."

"Oh, you're a parent?" Vixy asked the vixen asked the German Sheppard.

"Hoping to be one soon." Jason smirked and looked at the sleeping human. "I swear, watching him sleep makes me want to flip his bed upside down with him still in it. He's a good kid, but damn is he trouble."

Vixy smiled but didn't respond. As she watched him sleep however, she felt a certain warmth in her heart. She was grateful for him and his sacrifice to save her daughter. With that one brave action she saw just how wrong she had been to vilify him and treat him so wrongly. It tore her up inside knowing that he was in the hospital because of her. If she hadn't treated him so bad, he wouldn't have left and Christa never would have followed him. To make it up to the human, she had been staying night and day and making sure he was properly taken care of.

When the news of Relics' accident was released however, it was completely unexpected for all those reporters to infiltrate the hospital and storm his room. Luckily the trained military guards were there to remove them. They were placed to protect him as a precaution. There were only rumors and theories going around, but the driver who nearly killed Relics was a Venomian immigrant.

It was believed that they would strike again and if Relics _was_ killed, the humans might retaliate. Talks were already teetering on the brink, and the only thing holding the humans back was the Relics. Even Relics wasn't aware of this.

"I think we can leave him now." Vixy whispered.

"Yeah. Sleep well bud." Jason said to the sleeping human and gently patted him on the shoulder. The canine and reptile left while Vixy stayed behind. She watched him sleep just a little while longer and made sure he was comfortable before leaving.

"Goodnight Relics." She whispered before turning off the lights to his room and closing the door behind her.


	24. Right Under Their Beaks and Noses

"Hey Relics, feeling any better today?" A beaming minx as she walked through the door.

'_And suddenly the searing pain in my legs, chest, and head is gone!'_

"Lana! So good to see you!" Bill said from the side of Relics' bed.

'_And now it's all back.'_ He groaned mentally.

"How's it going Bill?" Lana asked the canine as she gave him a one armed hug, provoking a spike in Relics' jealousy meter. That spike crested as soon as she hugged him with both arms and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, turning both of them a fiery red.

"Oh just great, thanks for taking over- ooh hey! Dog treats!" Bill said and snatched the small shopping bag Lana was carrying. Hey danced out of the room singing he had a box of treats and Relics couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all.

"I trust Bill kept you in good company." Lana giggled as she sat next to the bedridden human.

"Oh yeah! First we talked about what kind of women he likes, then we talked about what kind of cars he likes, and then we talked about what kind of fabrics he liked. I never knew a dog could love the smell of leather so." Relics shivered. "It's like a fetish."

Lana rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh yes, you're telling me. I was the first one he came ou… never mind." Lana covered quickly before Relics could return back from his lucid dream of Bill taking his leather Suppressor off.

'_It's stylish AND it's blood ridden he'd say!'_

"And Fox, how was his visit?" Lana purred as she opened a small bag full of pink fluffy stuff that looked like insulation to the curious human.

"To be honest, I appreciate the gesture of helping me pass the time… but I wish you all wouldn't go to all this trouble."

"Oh Relics, you're one of our own now. We'll take care of you when you're beaten, raped, and filled with Tabasco sauce. Not my saying, it's Falco's." Lana added quickly and grabbed a small pinch of strange fluffy stuff. "Here, I got it for you."

Relics reached out with his arm that was no longer stuck with a needle that dripped precious, precious morphine into his thirsty blood. He inspected it for just a second before quickly eating it so not to be rude or offend. The result was an explosion of flavor that started in the back of his mouth and nearly blasted out through his clenched teeth.

"Wow. Do I get anything else?" He asked with a smirk.

"Oh Relics." The minx giggled and handed him the bag.

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Alright! Everything checks out Mr. McCloud, we can discharge you in a couple of hours." The beaming rabbit announced to the human. "It's going to get really boring without you though."

Relics shrugged. "Knowing me, I'll be back within a week, don't worry Liz."

"Well, I hope you mean to simply visit, and not to visit the emergency room again." She smiled and bent down to examine Relics' eyes. She shined a light into them and the pupils retracted, so all was well. She checked off one last thing before saying goodbye and leaving.

The human shook his head as he stifled a laugh. Ever since he'd gotten off the morphine, life had improved. Sure it hurt to walk and sometimes move, but at least he didn't hit on anything with breasts or a feminine figure. Of course with his distorted mindset, he kind of owed Jason an apology.

There came a sudden knock on the door and four armed soldiers walked in. They didn't raise their weapons which was a first. At first Relics wondered why four Cornerian soldiers were suddenly standing guard in his room. They were unlike the guards stationed around the hospital, they looked battle worn and had a veteran air about them that clogged Relics' lungs with tension.

They swept the room, leaving nothing unturned in the process. Once they were done they took positions at the door and glared at the confused human.

"Clear General."

A moment later, a familiar old hound dog entered the room. He was dressed in Cornerian military uniform with multiple medals on his left breast. His cover was drawn and he bore a pleasant, but not very happy smile.

"Good afternoon Mr. McCloud." The hound said calmly.

"Afternoon General." Relics replied.

"Good to see you've recovered swiftly with medical treatment. It would have been tragic if you died."

'_Yeah, I bet.'_

"It would have put a damper on my weekend." Relics replied with a bit of humor. Nobody laughed.

"Indeed. After our meeting, I'm going to need you to speak with your Chancellor and assure him that you are fine. We've been getting a lot of flack for what happened from your kind. Negotiations have been… strained." Pepper explained, to which Relics affirmed. "Now, there comes the matter of your Suppressor. I've reviewed your case for having it removed, but I am still standing by my decision. It would only draw more unneeded attention to you if people saw you run down the street so fast that you blurred their vision."

'_Go fucking figure.'_ Relics scowled in his head and barely kept himself from rolling his eyes.

"However, I might further consider and review your case if you do me a… favor if you will."

'_Go… FUCKING… figure.'_

"Sure General, what do you need? You moving? You cutting down a tree? What?" Relics asked showing enthusiasm even though there wasn't a single drop left in him at the moment.

"Well you see, an independent research firm has recently announced his "findings" on humans. Many of them are false, but the people ate it up. I know you specifically asked not to, but I'm asking you now for the best interests of everyone, to accept a televised interview."

Relics shivered and his blood became cold. That was the one thing that he dreaded most, being on live television and being asked questions in front of billions of people.

"Um… what kind of things did he say? Is it all that important?" Relics asked, hoping to worm his way out of this.

The hound dog sighed and explained to Relics, just what the professor said.

'_That's kinda accurate really.'_ Relics found himself thinking as his jaw dropped.

"That _is_ bad… anything else?"

"No, the interview was cut short. I know it might seem unimportant, but my people are as curios as they are nervous of yours. The professor's so called research, only fuels the anti-human protesters."

Relics rubbed his face with his hands and growled. "It can't be helped then, can it? Alright, but not today, I just want to get home and-"

"That's another thing I want to talk to you about McCloud." The General said, his tone turning grim. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors that Venomians are trying to assassinate you- no? Well alright then, I'll explain. A sect of radical anti-human separatists have established base on Venom and are believed to be behind the car accident, and the abduction." The canine explained, giving Relics a serious look.

"What abduction?" Relics asked having almost no idea of what he was talking about.

"The one of a Ms. Lana Tress? Surely you remember, you were there after all." General Pepper reminded the human, turning him sickly white and blue.

"You… you know about that?" Relics struggled to say since all the moisture from his mouth and throat went to his now clammy palms.

"Oh yes, your friends covered their tracks well, but they didn't count on the separate camera system we emplaced to keep an eye on you. The only reason you aren't already back home is because of the lack of witnesses that will talk. I must ask from now on though, if someone kidnaps your friend again, call me and I'll take care of it. I don't have elite kill squads at my disposal so they can mow my lawn, now do I?" The general asked to which Relics shook his head. "Good, I'm glad we understand each other. "

They left and Relics almost didn't notice because he was still shaken with the fact that he'd been busted. It also didn't help to know that they were watching him at school and if they were watching him at school, then who knows where else.

"Incoming call." A computer's voice announced that made Relics jump. He quickly staved away his heart attack with heavy breathing, before answering the call.

"Hello Mr. McCloud."

"Mr. Chancellor." Relics replied with a small smile. It felt good talking to something that looked like him for once.

"I'm glad to see you're still alive, I received quite the scary update from the Cornerians a few days ago. Half the human race is demanding atonement for your death, but I'm sure they'll be satisfied when they see this tonight."

"Yeah, thanks everyone." Relics said to the fourth wall.

"How have you been Relics? It's been a while since we last spoke." The Chancellor asked as he folded his arms and Relics cleared his throat twice as a response.

"Just fine Mr. Chancellor, thanks for asking."

Their conversation went on for several minutes. On the surface it seemed like a completely normal, and almost boring, conversation, but to those who spoke the code didn't see it like that. By folding his arms, the Chancellor signaled to Relics that he was now speaking in code, and Relics affirmed by clearing his throat.

"Are you enjoying yourself?** What is your status?**"

Relics refrained from cracking a smile. "Yes but there are a few kinks to living here. **Fine but there could be trouble."**

"Really? Not adjusting well to the people? **How many soldiers?**"

"Sometimes but other times it can be trying. Still, I like a bunch of people. **A few, but most of the time there are too many for me alone.**" Relics replied and scratched his nose three times signaling he would need three more people to aid him in the next step of the mission.

"How long should it take for you to adjust do you think," The Chancellor asked and coughed a few times, "excuse me. You should be coming around by now. **How ready are you? You've had enough time to secure weapons for the mission.**"

Relics nodded. "Yes I am, but it's quite different over here. **I'm not ready yet."**

"Understandable. **Unacceptable.**" The Chancellor nodded and smiled warmly. "I bet you'll be fully adapted within a month, you're a sharp kid if I do say so myself. **The mission goes as plan in one month when I give the order.**"

"Thank you sir, that means a lot. **Understood sir.**" Relics said as he tensed. A month was too soon, he needed more time.

The Chancellor let out a stifled laugh but then asked. "Have you seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail? It's a great movie, you should watch it sometime. **The next code is on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.**" The old man said before uncrossing his arms. "I must be going now McCloud. I'll talk to you again next month."

Relics' nostrils flared. "Thank you sir, see you next time. **Understood.**"

The feed cut and Relics knew that at least a dozen or so code decoders were hard at work, searching and scanning for the smallest sign of a secret message. The human hoped that their code was as unnoticeable as it was made to believe. It was a major pain learning such a complex code, and it all rested with him remembering every possible conversation. If the Chancellor would say "Good Morning" it meant one thing, but if he said "Good evening" it could mean something entirely different. If Relics messed up, then he could accidently set off a war prematurely. Now he had to watch another movie a dozen times and absorb the hidden meanings. Luckily, the code was easily read when he used his enhanced vision.

'_One month. God I hope peace negotiations go better, I'm starting to like it here.'_ Relics sighed and leaned back in his hospital bed. _'Still, orders are orders… I just hope Lana stays safe when it all goes down.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

Lana hummed to herself as she sat on the couch in her living room. You wouldn't guess it from her collective outward appearance, but inside she was brimming with energy and frustration. She wanted nothing more than to leave and see Relics again, but he wasn't allowed visitors anymore until he was discharged in about six hours.

To pass the time she decided to flip through some channels in hopes that there was something good on a Saturday, but for some God awful reason, there never seemed to be anything good on Saturdays except the news. All her favorite shows were showing reruns, and she really didn't care for extreme space racing.

She was about to turn off the TV and go running, when a program caught her eye and she hesitated.

"-and humans typically range between five feet and six feet in height. Our human exchange student is an average specimen and stands at five feet ten inches." A stereotypical scientist, complete with the lab coat, glasses, and bulgy eyes explained.

"Interesting, and what else has your research discovered?" A rather hot ocelot asked the scientist, whom she was making very nervous and red in the face.

"After months of studying human DNA, I've discovered that humans are not so different from us. Their senses are a little duller then ours, but their mental capacities and abilities are equal to ours. And-" The scientist was rambling on but the ocelot interrupted him.

"Mr. Amos, a lot of viewers are curios about… human reproduction. Perhaps you might be able to answer some of their questions? For instance, is it normal sex?" The feline asked.

"Oh uh, human reproduction is quite fascinating indeed. Our studies have led us to believe that when a human male and a human female engage in the act of mating, the female makes an incision in her body that allows the male to mate furiously. While he finishes, the female quickly moved to decapitate the male and suck out his fluids providing herself with much needed nutrition."

Millions of jaws dropped all around the Lylat system, none more so then Lana's. The minx would have thrown up had it not been for ever muscle and reflex in her body had seized up. Her entire body was tense and her claws were digging into the couch, threatening to cut it in two like a ferocious beast.

"I… I uh…" The woman managed to say but dared not continue. "Well, thank you Mr. Amos, but I suppose that's all the time we have. Until next time Lylat." She said and ended the show twenty minutes early. The program was cut and for a few seconds there was static until a commercial came on. After almost five minutes, enough of Lana came back online for her to say.

"What. The. Fuck!"

_**~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, I know it's a VERY short chapter, but it is also the last chapter since I'm leaving tomorrow. It might seem raw and that's cause I threw it down and didn't edit/revise too much. I just wanted to say goodbye one last time and tell you that Padawan, Hell, Sauria and Stripper 2 won't be updated. I got close with Padawan but I didn't want to leave it on a cliffhanger. Thanks everyone, you've been great, hope you enjoyed my last update for anything in quite awhile.**_

_**I'm outta here!**_


	25. Back And Fit For Full Duty

"Okay, Mr. McCloud, your dinner is- oh where did he go this time!" The nurse exclaimed and then cursed under her breath. The rabbit then stormed off, leaving the dinner tray on the empty, unmade hospital bed. She started her search on her patient's floor and checked the floor below. Why he'd be in the children's ward, she had no idea, but she had found him in stranger spots, like the roof for example. Finding the alien was the easy part, getting the alien who was terrified of heights down from the roof was another.

"I swear, if he was _my_ kid, I'd… I'd… I'd tell him I loved him every day." She sighed to herself as her heart melted at the sight she found.

"And then, without hesitation, I picked my gun and began firing at everything that moved!" Relics exclaimed as he pretended to shoot invisible enemies all around him. The little Cornerian kids cheered loudly as he did, bringing a warm smile to the rabbit's face and the other nurses watching.

"But suddenly, a plasma grenade dropped between my feet!" Relics said, silencing his audience. "I ran, and barely avoided the blast but I found myself in the middle of a squadron of elites. My heart beat furiously, they closed in all around me, every one of them pulling out their energy swords. I was down to my last clip, with only enough shots to take out a mere fraction of their numbers." Relics said growing quiet, creating a level of suspense. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, just me and my shadow against five-no! Against fifty elites! But that's a story for the next time."

A great cry of complaints and aw's came from the little children. They wanted to hear more about his stunning escape from a planet called Reach. It was a slow process, but Relics finally managed to convince them that he'd be back to finish the story and if they were all good, he'd tell them about his escapades in Skyrim.

"You really are something special Mr. McCloud, you know that?" The white rabbit said which made him blush.

"Yeah well, what are you gonna do? These kids don't have all that much to look forward to, just more meds and treatments." Relics said as he turned around and waved to one of the cancer patients that couldn't leave her bed. She waved back and he even got the little seven year old kitten to smile.

"I haven't seen her smile the entire time she's been here." The nurse commented.

"You're not mad that I left my room again, are you?" Relics asked, hoping he wouldn't be getting another earful from Jason when he got here because of all the nurses complaining about his rowdy behavior. First it was the morphine incident, then the roof incident, then the morgue incident, and now this. All that trouble he managed to cause in just a week's time.

"After seeing all their happy faces… how could I be. But you're still eating your food when we get back." She added which made Relics groan. If he was ever challenged with finding a worse cook then Jason, he'd look no further than the automated robots down in the galley. "Oh, looks like Jason's here to pick you up… um, you wouldn't happen to know if he's seeing anyone, would you?" She asked looking up from her data-pad that verified that Jason was in the building.

Relics shrugged. "No, just his wife of four years."

The rabbit's face went blank and she changed the subject very quickly. "So, you ready to go on TV later today?"

'_Like a boss! …A first level boss but a boss none the less.'_

"Not really much to say really, just deny that my people mate like insects." Relics shrugged as he started walking with the nurse back to his room. In truth, he was extremely nervous to go on television, anything that looked like a camera made him nervous ever since he arrived on Corneria. Still, if there was one good thing that came out of all of this, it was that his hair was finally starting to get some color back.

Relics had heard about some rare cases where hair color could come back, and that was because the modifications to his DNA had slowed down. The modifications relied on mass production of a hormone that allowed the changes to stay in effect. Relics guessed that since he had the suppressor on, that chemical wasn't being that readily produced, and the Pheomelanin wasn't being disregarded. With any luck, as long as he kept the suppressor on, his sandy blonde hair and a tanner skin color would come back.

'_Then I won't look like a fucking Q-tip that's running from the sun.'_ Relics thought as he imagined himself lying on the beach, getting a perfect tan, his neatly kept hair a nice rich sandy blond color, and Lana laying next to him with her bikini off also getting a tan. _'Oh yeah, that's hot. Good thing I got me some lotion to rub all over her back and massaging her. Yeah, I don't give a fuck anymore, Lana is something special that I'd love to… oh, nurse Goodman is still talking to me.'_

"Uh huh. Yeah." Relics found himself saying to which was the right answer to whatever Nurse__Goodman was talking to him about.

"Good, I'm glad we both understand each other." She said pleasantly as they got to his room where a very anxious and excited German Sheppard was waiting.

"Relics!" Jason said as his tail wagged furiously and he converged on the human.

"Jason!" Relics said just before he was nearly crushed by the soldier and then lifted off the ground. He made small coughing and choking noises but Jason didn't stop hugging him until the stars Relics started seeing turned into birds. "What's the good news?"

Jason beamed at the human and said. "The General okayed _it_."

Nurse Goodman was a little confused as to why Relics perked up and put his hands on his head. "No way! I can't believe he bought it!"

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, but he did agree with that a foster family might be a hard transition. Since you already know me and my wife, it was quite easy convincing him to let you come stay with us. At least until we can get to the bottom of… well, you know."

'_The possible assassination plot on my head is more inconvenient then dangerous. I mean, I survived getting T-boned by a car doing thirty five! Good thing I'm indestructible- OW! OH CRAMP, CRAMP!'_ Relics thought and stretched his arm to rid himself of the mild cramp.

The thought of living with Jason and Chloe blew Relics' mind. He had come to greatly enjoy their company, Hell; he could probably venture to say that he considered them family. That was entirely unethical of course, and Relics thought it would be rude to start calling people family without any blood relations. Besides, the only family he ever had was his father, and look what happened to him. No, he was destined to walk alone until he started a family of his own. With who however, was yet to be known.

'_Imagine having kids with a Cornerian. Like that's even possible!'_ Relics scowled in his mind to shake the thoughts of a certain minx carrying their hybrid child.

"I think we can stop by your old house and pick up your things before we have to head to the interview, if that's all right with you." Jason suggested.

"Sure, the sooner we leave here the better. I think the nurses are planning something." Relics whispered to Jason since Nurse Goodman was still in the room.

"We _were_ planning on putting you into an induced medical coma until you were discharged so to save the hospital from your shenanigans, but since you're leaving we'll call it off." Nurse Goodman giggled and held out her hand which Relics took and gave a gentle kiss that got the blood to rush to her face in a soft red glow against her white fur. "Goodbye Mr. McCloud, I sincerely hope to never see you here again."

Relics gave the rabbit a sad look implying he didn't understand her meaning and she quickly moved to take it back.

"No! I mean I hope we don't ever see you here in the hospital again because that would mean that you'd been hurt or got sick or…" She trailed off scratching behind her ears. "I didn't mean it like that- what are you smiling about?" She growled.

"I'm sorry; you're just too easy to fool." Relics sniggered before the nurse stomped over to Relics' bed, grabbed the pillow and started nailing him with it.

"Get out of here before I hit you with _my _car!" The rabbit snapped halfheartedly and chased the fleeing human down the halls with Jason in tow.

"He sure has his own way with the ladies." Jason sighed.

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Are you okay Relics?" Jason asked as he watched the human wake up with a jolt from yet another thirty second nap. The human was trying desperately to stay awake, but as Jason could plainly see, that was not a battle that he was winning.

"I'm… fine Jason. Just a little tired. I was up all night telling those kids stories." Relics admitted.

Jason cocked an eyebrow. "You were up all night telling children stories? Why?"

Relics' eyes fluttered but he stayed awake. "I saw them all in their ward one day when I got lost on my way back from the vending machine. They all looked so sad and bored, almost like they started to give up hope. Some of them clearly had, as the nurses couldn't get them to eat. One little girl in particular, refused to talk, eat, smile, or do anything but stare at the wall with a solemn look on her face." Relics explained. "When I showed up, I must have invited their curiosity and I stuck around." Relics explained and then smirked to himself. "You should have seen all their faces, so adorable… so…" The human managed before he passed out.

Jason looked back through the mirror and saw that the human had finally succumbed to sleep's gentle caress. He thought about what the kid said and that only added more points for him in his book. Before, Relics seemed like a good kid to the canine, now he knew for sure that he was. Relics had all the comforts of home in his private hospital room, a TV, video games, a phone, friends that visited him, and even all that, he still went down to see a bunch of sick kids that probably wouldn't get to see their thirteenth birthday.

For once, Jason decided to drive slowly and safely, so not to interrupt Relics' sleep, he earned that much. When they got to Relics home, he even packed up his things for him. For a little while he just looked at the sleeping teen, proud of the young man he'd be even prouder to call son. Having him around the house would be a good thing to have, especially for Chloe. She desperately wanted a kit of her own, and having Relics might satisfy her maternal instincts until they could have one of their own. And speaking of Chloe, Jason was sure she'd love a picture of the human curled up in the back seat. He took out his phone, took a picture and sent it to his wife.

"_**Awwww, that's so sweet! Thanks Jay-Jay!" **_She messaged back.

The canine rolled his eyes at his nickname and texted back. "I thought you might enjoy."

A few seconds later he got another message. _**"Yeah. He looks so cute, like a little sleeping kit…"**_

Jason's ears laid back and he sighed. "Don't worry honey; we just have to keep trying. I'll get you a baby even if I die trying."

"_**I'm sure you would hon. But in the meantime, at least we've got Relics. He's such a good kid."**_

"You're telling me? He's been telling terminal kids stories in his free time when he was at the hospital!" Jason said and smirked at the teen.

"_**OMG! That's the sweetest… what does he want for dinner? What's his favorite?"**_

"I don't know but whatever you think he'll like, I'm sure he will." Jason replied as he sat in his car and got an idea. "You know, I told them a few space stories of my own."

Jason didn't get a reply for a while but when he did he burned absolute red. _**"I'm going to suck your duck like I'm mad at it."**_

Before Jason could reply, he got another message. _**"Stupid auto-correct."**_

~X~X~X~X~X~

"How do I look Mrs. Mahoney?" Relics asked.

"You look amazing Relics." The panther purred. For some reason, it seemed to Relics that she was even nicer than before. But then, he noticed that most everyone was nicer to him ever since the accident and before the little stunt on TV. "That jacket really brings out your eyes."

Relics looked down at the grey jacket with red lining and the white undershirt he had underneath that. He nodded in approval and took her word for it. He only had about two hours until his televised interview, and already the pressure was setting in. The General had given him a list of five shows he could go on and receive mass coverage. In the end he decided to choose a talk show that he'd probably never watched since he didn't watch TV all that much.

"Alright, now that you're all dolled up, let's get a move on!" Jason said impatiently since it was his ass if they didn't get there on time.

"I'm sure you'll do great hon." Chloe reassured as she hustled both of them out the door. "Just don't look into the camera, you'll get deer-in-the-headlights syndrome."

'_Deer in the headlights? Come on! No way that'll happen.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics ran to the small trashcan and emptied out everything in his stomach. He was sweating bloody bullets and his heart was racing. His cocky attitude went down the drain when he realized that he was going on the same show with the four women that determined just how "doable" he was. Not only that but one of the interns let it slip that they had at least half a billion viewers and climbing. To make matters worse, they did a mock interview in the backroom and he couldn't say a word so long as a camera was in the room. All he wound up doing was holding his hands up next to his face like he was going to do something with them, and started rambling.

'_Deer in the headlights? More like fly in the sun.'_ Relics thought as he groaned and swigged some water from a bottle to get the nasty taste out of his mouth.

"Mr. McCloud, are you alright in there?" A mousy intern asked as she knocked on the door of his changing room.

"I'm fine… just, just freshening up!" Relics replied as he popped several mints to hide the smell of throw up. Once he had consumed the entire pack, he threw it away and exited the safety of his private dressing room. "Alright, let's do this."

"About time! You take longer to get ready then Chloe!" Jason growled who was starting to feel the effects of the upcoming interview as well. He was constantly checking his uniform, his ribbons, and his medals, making absolute sure they were always on spot. Relics was doing the same but with his hair and jacket.

'_I'm a pretty girl, I'm a pretty girl.'_ Relics thought as he fiddled with his hair again. _'I'm a… man! I'M A MAN DAMN IT!'_

"This way please." The field mouse squeaked as she led the two through the back studio.

Relics adjusted the cuffs to his jacket and cleared his throat before following. He knew that he could physically go out there and explain to millions upon millions of people that his people didn't mate like something out of a child's biology report, but that was only theoretically. In reality it was taking everything he had not to run off and hide under Lana's bed.

"You nervous?" Jason asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Shit yeah." Relics muttered.

"Well, don't worry. I'll be off in the sidelines with my blaster just in case." Jason reassured.

'_I'm not worried about someone killing me; in fact I kind of welcome that right about now.'_

"Thanks Jason. I just hope you're the crack shot you claim to be." Relics said with a small and very weak smile.

"I'll have to take you hunting some time then." Jason suggested. "That and fishing, camping, and dare I say swimming."

"If I didn't know any better Jason, I'd say you were taking me out on a father son bonding trip." Relics said cocking his eyebrow.

"I- well you see… Chloe is trying to put me up to it. I'd be equally satisfied staying at home and popping open a couple cold ones with you and watch the game." Jason said a little too quickly to sound sincere.

'_I already had a father… I don't need another one.'_

"Right. Well thanks for the offer but right now, I have a date with half a billion people." Relics sighed as they reached the very edge of the set where he saw the four women sitting in their rather comfy looking chairs that surrounded the one in the middle.

"I don't care what that _scientist_ said! I mean look at him!" The youngest one of them, the black and grey she-wolf exclaimed. "I'd gnaw through my own left arm to get a piece of that action!"

'_Oh God! Not this again.'_ Relics said as he face-palmed himself at the sight of him shirtless on the big screen behind the four women.

"Well, you're about to get that chance because today we have a special guest. A young man who's volunteered to go where none of his kind has before, the man of the decade, the talk of the Lylat… Mr. Relics McCloud!" The oldest one of them, a silver fox announced that created an eruption of applause.

'_Exit stage left!'_ Relics thought as he performed an about face and attempted to run off, but Jason had been around the sly human to know when he was going to pull a fast one. The German Sheppard quickly grabbed the human around the waist and (with difficulty) launched the squirming human out onto the set.

Luckily for him he didn't fall, but he did look a little silly coming on stage backwards. Relics slowly turned around with a bad poker face on his visage before waving to the massive crowd. The human quickly scurried to his chair like a dog with its tail between its legs and before he could sit down, he was introduced to his hosts an older grey vixen, a young looking feline female, a young she-wolf, and a middle aged rabbit. He shook their hands and gave them all quick pecks with his lips and noted that every host had their nails done in a way that was fashionable, but at the same time deadly.

"Mr. McCloud, so good to have you here on the show with us." The she-wolf said with a small glimmer in her eyes.

"It's nice to be here Mrs. Catalina." Relics replied, feeling much better now that he was sitting down.

"It's _Ms. _Catalina, but please, call me Denise." She said with a certain tone in her voice and an alluring smile.

"Only if you call me Relics." The human found himself saying. _'Whoa there killer! Cool it before you go and make an ass out of yourself on TV! Besides, what would Lana think? I mean, we're almost there with that girl, and I'll be damned if we get cock-blocked by your ridiculous shenanigans! Yeah! That's right! I don't give a fuck anymore! Cornerian, human, Martian! JUST GET SOME ACTION ALREADY!"_

"Charming." The wolf growled in approval and eyed the human like a predator does a hunk of meat.

"Relics, I hate to interrupt, but a rather ambiguous rumor has been going around involving human reproduction. Tell us, is it true that humans… well…" The middle aged rabbit asked but faltered.

Relics frowned. "Not in the slightest. At no point did my head come off after making love. I don't know where that guy got his research but we don't swing that way."

"Well that's a load off my mind." The feline to the far right of Relics sighed. "And here I thought you men made cuts and then…" She said but turned too red to continue.

"Trust me; I've never even considered doing something like that." Relics replied.

'_Holy shit! This is easy as fuck! I am on TV being interviewed by two, maybe three attractive women and I don't care! ... Note to self, brain doesn't get to think anymore.'_ He thought as the realization dawned on him. Almost immediately, his eyes connected with the nearest camera but he tore them away but it was a vain effort. All throughout the interview his eyes diverted back to the camera, sometimes for several seconds at a time. Still, the interview went smoothly and somewhere down the line, Relics forgot he was talking in front of five hundred million people, maybe more by now.

"Which brings me to my other point, why are peace talks breaking down do you think?" The silver fox asked the white human.

Relics shrugged. "I guess the delegates can't find any common ground. To them it's all business and what can they get out of the other. They're not looking at the big picture."

"Just what exactly is the big picture?" Denise asked, hanging off every word he said like he was Socrates and she a mere Greek acolyte.

"That war is the last thing anyone wants. A war between our races isn't the answer to any of our problems and doesn't determine who's right, it determines who's left." Relics said solidly trying to send his message that had taken him almost a year and a half to realize. The day that his father was killed, he prayed for the extinction of the Cornerian race, but now that he came to live amongst these people, he'd seen a new way of thinking and formed his own unique awareness. Yet even his newfound views couldn't sanction his true reason for coming to the Lylat system.

"That's so deep." Denise swooned making Relics blush a bit.

"That said, will your people push for war any time soon?"

'_Not too soon at least.'_ Relics thought as he recalled his orders from the Chancellor.

"No, I wouldn't worry about my people invading yours in the future."

'_I'd count on it.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Hey guys! I'm back! Out of boot camp, in A school and learning about my rate. Good ol' Florida, God's waiting room. But anyways, sorry if the quality isn't as good as before, I've been getting beat for the past couple of months so my writing skills may be a little rusty. Hope you enjoyed and it feels great to be back!**_


	26. Welcoming Reception

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Wow, sixteen reviews last chapter? Well like four of them were from the same person, but still! You all missed me that much? I'm touched. Keep that up and I'll update faster, I won't just play star craft two in my downtime when I'm not learning about airframes. Anyways, thanks you guys, this chapter is another two part chapter that had to be split, kind of like Relics' and Lana's first date. Guess you could call this their second date. I hope you enjoy and have a good one peeps!**_

The black SUV pulled up to the front of the school, its tinted windows disbarred any curios eyes. Not very many people took notice of the car, but when the door opened it became the central spot of everyone's attention. The calm collective figure slowly stepped out, his backpack over his right shoulder. He wore a black leather jacket with red trimming, deep Navy blue jeans, and a steel grey shirt underneath with a small Cornerian logo plastered on the front in red.

He hadn't even taken a step from the car and already people were whispering about him. Relics caught bits and pieces of them but he didn't care. It was just another Monday, another cold autumn morning, and he had the best damn breakfast of his young life to date, thanks to the one and only Chloe Mahoney. The crisp and clean air chilled the human but it felt so good going down.

The double doors opened wide as Relics stepped up to them. He was a little put off as to why so many people were standing there waiting for him, until they all started clapping and cheering for him. Try as he might, he couldn't help but smile with pride all the way to class. Along the way he shook a lot of people's hands, exchanged pleasantries and even had a pair of panties stuffed into his jacket's pocket with a name and number written on them.

'_Another day that's great to be me… bringing the grand total up to four thus far.'_

Even in his first period class he received a warm welcome as everyone was already there waiting. Before he could sit down he found that his desk had a number of gifts and treats on it. The most notable one was the little white ball on his desk with a small clip attached to it. Upon further investigation, it was a small plastic replica of a human that looked remarkably like him, only smiling which was different.

"That one's mine." Fara beamed after wrapping the human in her arms. Her tail began to wag when Relics returned the hug with his left arm and she smiled all the brighter. When she let him go, Relics was able to sit down but not before thanking everyone for their kindness.

For the first time he felt accepted. Sure people still stared at him but it wasn't with a fearful or threatened gaze. He found that he could easily talk to people now that they saw him in a new light and not as some alien ticking time bomb. For once, things were starting to look up.

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Not hungry Relics?"

Relics blinked and looked back to the table from the masses of Cornerians. The group had established themselves at a very large table near the middle of the galley and they were all staring at him. Most everyone was done with their food except for him, who had yet to touch his burger and energy drink. It was Slippy who had commented about his lack of appetite, who most likely wanted seconds and would eagerly vulture in on Relics' food.

In response, Relics pushed the tray towards the green toad, and looked back into the crowds for someone.

"Looks like he's not hungry." Slippy shrugged and sure enough, began ravaging Relics' burger.

"Oh he's hungry, but only for a certain minx- OW!" Bill yipped when somebody stepped on his toes under the table.

'_Tell me about it._ _I haven't seen her all day and- THERE SHE IS! …Oh… sweet… erection.'_

The minx's brunette hair was tied back in a ponytail and her fur was as sleek and shiny as ever. Her red eyes were amplified by her red lipstick and scarlet scarf. The hybrid wore a white jacket and dark grey pants that were as tight yet comfortable as yoga pants. Her tail flicked energetically behind her as she walked up to the table. What normal people saw was a hot minx casually walk over and sit down right next to Relics. But what the human saw was something totally different.

"I want you." She whispered making everyone fall silent and disappear.

Out of nowhere Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi blasted the silence and Lana cast him a seductive look that hit him with more force than the car that t-boned him last week. As the music played, Lana danced towards him, making dips, snapping back up making her deep brown hair whip back out of the ponytail, and then she got to her knees and crawled towards him. The brown minx's tail flicked back and forth as she slowly stalked towards him while she licked her muzzle.

Relics was rigid enough but when she put her face between his legs and grinned salaciously. She drew into him close and feigned as if she would proceed all the way. Instead she beckoned up to him, placing her hands within an inch of the bulge between Relics' legs.

"You should fuck me hard, right here," Lana said in Relics fiery red ear and then licked him across his blazing cheek, "on this table until I can't feel my-"

"Hey everybody, hi Relics." Lana said entirely innocently compared to what she just said in Relics' mind.

'_I love you subconscious.'_

"H-Hey." Relics replied as he went stiff as a board and red as his blood.

'_I retract my last statement you fucking square!'_

"How you doing today?" The minx purred as she slid closer to him so that their bodies touched.

"Pretty good, still picking bits of headlight and windshield wiper out of my sternum… but other than that I'm good."

Quite the opposite of what Relics intended to get out of the minx; Lana gave him a look of concern and mewed so cutely into her paws. "Oh my God! Do you need to go back to the hospital?"

"Lana, he was being sarcastic." Fara giggled at the somewhat oblivious minx's expense.

Lana looked away and glimmered a light shade of red. "Oh, that was funny." She said but didn't laugh in the slightest.

It was usually this point where Fox or Miyu would save the situation but they were the only two missing at the moment. This left the two trolls to make it worse.

"Awkward." Falco chirped.

"This is kind of like the morning after scene, Lana's embarrassed and Relics isn't saying anything- OW damn it Fara! You hit the bruise." Bill whined like a hurt puppy.

"Now I know why Miyu does this so much! It feels so good to hit you sometimes Bill." Fara grinned.

"Um… guys, you mind if Lana and I take off?" Relics found himself asking with no warning, not even to himself.

The minx's eyes widened in surprise and her heart leapt as ideas as to why he wanted to see her in private raced across her mind. She wasn't the only one surprised and caught off guard as he managed to sucker punch everyone from their blind spots.

"Uh… sure. Go for it." Bill said without something witty or rhetorical to say for once.

Relics looked to the minx and jutted his head towards the exit. She followed him without a word, all the while her heart thought of a thousand and one ie her heart deas as to what he was going to do or say.

Suddenly, in the middle of the hallway and a mass of people, he turned around and looked her dead in her eyes. She couldn't move as his silver pools had captivated her entire being. He took a step to her and her mouth opened as if to say something but he placed his finger to her lips.

"Don't talk." He whispered softly as his hand reached around and found its way to the small of her back just above her bushed up tail. "Just enjoy yourself."

Lana blinked and in that split second her world was changed as her lips pressed against his. A force leapt all throughout her body and she dove into the kiss, enjoying every second while everyone watched, happy for the new young couple.

"Lana?"

Lana snapped out of her fantasy and realized Relics had been talking to her but she was too wrapped up in their pseudo-kiss to notice.

"Huh? What? Oh I'm sorry Relics." Lana apologized as her ears drooped in shame.

'_Just what were _you_ thinking I wonder?'_

"Oh it's no problem, I just asked if you wanted to come with me Miyu and Fox to the movies tonight?" Relics asked to which she didn't respond. "I mean, I don't want to be the third wheel so… I mean… well, I'd really like to go with you."

It was clear that Relics' third wheel excuse was about as lame as a horse with a broken leg and it showed in her eyes.

"Ah. Can't you take Fara? Wouldn't you rather go with her?" She asked with just a hint of a growl, like a spice in an entrée.

'_Oh shit, you've done it now! Quick brain, DO SOMETHING!'_

Relics opened his mouth to speak but cleared his throat which gave him a half a second to think. "I'm sure I would but I'd rather go with the angel that blessed me by staying by my side for so long while I recovered in the hospital."

The threat of hostility vanished in an instant and the minx's eyes widened. That was unanticipated, and it was just the thing to turn Relics' faux pas into a win.

'_Oh yeah! How does my silver tongue feel babe? Watch out, cause I'm one smooth secret agent. License to kill, and a PHD in love.'_

The minx gave him a half smile while her purr grew louder. "Well, how can I say no to that?"

Relics smiled as his plan had succeeded, and with Jason and Chloe's help everything would come to fruition tonight. Tonight was the night he asked Lana out.

~X~X~X~X~X~

Earlier this morning at the Mahoney residence, Relics was starting to wake up rather early. He had gotten so much sleep at the hospital; his body wanted nothing to do with it. So, bored, alone, and in someone else's house, Relics waited for Jason or Chloe to come out and hopefully this time they'd be clothed. Jason apologized for his lack of modesty last time, but he claimed it was because he was used to having only his wife in the house, who was rather used to seeing him naked by now.

Finally the sound of a door opened and Relics bolted to his bedroom door and opened it. What he saw almost made him slink back into his room. Chloe looked absolutely ravaged. Her hair was a mess, her fur was ruffled, and her tail was bushed in some places. Her violet night robe concealed body and the mess Jason more than likely made trying to "make-a-me some babies" as he'd put it.

"Oh good morning Relics." Chloe yawned before casting him a sunny smile.

"Um, morning Chloe." Relics muttered and scratched the back of his neck.

"How long have you been up?" She asked noting that he was already fully dressed and ready to start the day at the crack of five in the morning whereas she was still recovering after another magical night with the man of her dreams and hopefully one day the father of her children.

"Since three-"

"Since three!" Chloe gapped. "You must be starving! Why didn't you wake me up sweetie? I'd have made you something. Come on, I'm sure we can find something you like." The panther purred as she escorted Relics downstairs to the kitchen.

"Oh you don't have to-" Relics began felling absolutely rude for having Chloe make him his breakfast so early and after she took him into her home out of the kindness of her own heart.

"Nonsense Relics, you deserve a warm breakfast after all. How do you feel about pancakes?" Chloe asked as they neared the kitchen after crossing the living room and the dining room.

"Cake for breakfast? Well alright then." Relics shrugged and made Chloe giggle.

"Not that kind of cake, _pan_cakes." She said and sat Relics down at the small table for two in the kitchen where Jason and Chloe ate the bulk of their meals when they weren't entertaining guests. "What kind of fruit do you want in them? Tali berries? Maybe Shepard berries?"

'_Uhhhh… aren't Shepard berries the orange ones? Or are those the Tali berries?'_

hat yotaining guests. of their meals when they weren'wo in the kitchen where jason ly, anldren.. So, bored, alone, and in someo

"Tali please." Relics replied hoping that he made the right choice.

For the next ten minutes Relics and Chloe talked to each other while the panther made a nice warm breakfast. When she was done, she sat at the table opposite of him and dished out the pancakes for each other.

"And here's the syrup." Chloe said putting the bottle between their plates on the table.

Relics looked at the golden brown liquid suspended in a bottle that was shaped like a female hound dog. Then he looked to Chloe with curious eyes. "Syrup?"

Chloe's lavender eyes blinked and she smiled to herself before giggling. "I'm sorry sweetie; sometimes I forget you're not a Cornerian."

'_Sweetie? Why is she being so nice?'_ The human thought, hoping he wasn't turning too red.

"Here," Chloe said and showed him how to use the syrup, "just squirt it all over your pancakes and then add some butter." When she was done, she cut out a healthy bite and then offered it to him. "Try it."

'_Does she want me to just eat it off the spork? Let's see, her hands aren't giving any room for me to grab… alright then.'_ Relics thought and went for it. He leaned in and took a bite, almost instantly his eyes bulged as an explosion of pleasure and flavor gave his tongue a sensual massage, and his teeth a sexual root canal.

Chloe grinned. "You like?"

"Oh yes, very much!" Relics said and quickly prepped his pancakes like Chloe's. "You're an excellent cook Mrs. Mahoney; I don't think you can make something that doesn't leave a man speechless."

A small growl arose from behind the human that made the small hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. Things got really awkward for the young man, but Chloe took no notice of irk in her husband.

"Morning dear, are you hungry?" She said and yawned herself.

"Nah babe, just a little tired. I smelt breakfast and thought it was later." Jason replied and went to the coffee machine to brew him some. "Morning Relics."

"Morning Jason." Relics said as he ate his pancakes.

"Ready for school?" The canine asked to which Relics nodded as his mouth was full of nearly half a pancake that had been lathered in syrup and butter. "Lookin' good, trying to impress someone?"

"It's not everyday you show up to school, back from the dead." Relics countered, trying his damnedest to throw the dog off the scent, but his wife had already caught whiff of it.

"And the cologne?" She purred.

'_Great, looks like I got bent over and double teamed.'_

Relics put his spork down and sighed. "I guess I can't slip past the both of you can I?"

"I KNEW IT!" Jason exclaimed as his tail started wagging. "So who you shooting for today? Lana or Fara?"

"Lana but-"

"Her parents are gonna be _pissed_." Jason enunciated. "I thought they banned you from ever being more than friends with her, especially after that little misunderstanding."

"I was hoping I might be able to convince them to see otherwise. We've been friends for a month now and after my little attempt to dodge traffic, I'm hoping that'll have scored a couple brownie points in their books. It's not like they hate me, they're just afraid of me, and after seeing my mangled corpse on the news maybe they won't so much."

"Well I think they should be delighted that their daughter has found herself such a nice catch." Chloe put in making Relics' ears redden.

Jason walked up to his wife and kissed her on the cheek before asking. "So how you going to ask her out?"

'… _Uh… how _are_ we going to ask her out? …FUCK! Once again we don't have a plan!'_

"Oh boy." Jason sighed and rubbed his temples with his freehand that wasn't carrying a cup of coffee. "Clearly you need help son, if you just plan ask her out, that's not going to make her feel special and your chances of success are diminished."

"And who are you to say he needs help?" Chloe butted in with a playful tone. "I seem to recall getting my back drenched in a cheap drink you ordered to impress me."

"Why you-" Jason growled menacingly but instead of hitting her like his tone was implying, he merely put his coffee down on the table and started to tickle her and kiss her when she wasn't looking.

"Stop! Stop you big lug! Not when Relics is in the room!" She laughed which thankfully brought Jason to his senses.

'_Another side of Jason I did not need to see.'_

"Sorry Relics." The brown and black dog apologized sheepishly. "Sometimes I forget we've got a guest in the house."

"He's more than a guest dear." Chloe reminded but did not elaborate as to what exactly he was.

"Tell you what, if you're still going to the movies today with Fox and Miyu, Chloe and I'll help set the mood, if you know what I mean." The Sheppard said with a coy smile.

'_I think I do, and I wish I didn't.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

Back in present time….

'_Brain make a mental note, Captain Fritz dies slowly.'_

"Phew! I thought that would never end. It's a good thing you were able to beat the time limit Relics, or we'd still be running around campus." Fox panted with relief as he and Relics trudged away from school, dead tired from running around school campus three times, which was a mile and a half long.

'_Well if that spider hadn't shown up like it did, I'd have passed out. Fucking spawns of the devil!'_

"So what movie we going to take the girls to?" Relics asked to which Fox's ears perked up.

"Oh ho! So you asked her after all? HA! Miyu owes me six credits!" Fox proudly growled. "But uh, I don't know, a horror movie might be good, Miyu loves those movies. All the blood and gore really gets her blood pumping."

"And then something else pumping I bet." Relics said aloud. _'So she doesn't mind mindless slaughter- FUCK I said what I was supposed to think!'_

"It's like pure aphrodisiac." Fox chuckled, not in the least bit offended. "And you should see Lana at the movies, she gets very excited, and scary movies will drive her right a caring person's arms, if ya know what I mean."

'…_Go on.'_

Relics smirked. "We'll see. Ah, there they are." Relics sighed when he saw two smiling, and very beautiful women waiting for him. One was for Fox and the other was for him, and to be honest, he felt he got the better deal with Lana.

"He really ran your ass into the ground again, didn't he?" Miyu asked and hugged her boyfriend despite how sweaty and hot he was.

"You could say that." Fox chuckled before he got hosed down by a strange Cornerian chemical spray. Before Relics could ask, he got sprayed down too. It was a strange feeling; the spray latched on to him, effectively soaking him and then became sticky before vanishing entirely.

"Sorry Relics, we can't have you stinking up Fox's car can we? Vixy and James will think we've been at it in there again." Miyu purred as she shook the bottle of shower in a can.

"I've been meaning to ask you-" Relics began but was cut off.

"Yes, yes, I cleaned the car inside and out twice." Fox assured.

Relics rolled his eyes and then smiled at his date who smiled back albeit blushingly. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

'_Alright, phase one complete. I just hope the movie's good and Jason and Chloe get there in time.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

The movie theater was dark and quaint. Not many people were there, in fact, only three other people other than the quartet were there. The movie they all decided on was of the horror genre, and Relics could tell by how close Lana was sticking to him that she wasn't too fond of horror movies. Their chairs were close, so close that they were brushing up against each other, enjoying the other's warmth.

"Sorry, we're just so close that… sorry." Lana murmured and started to get up. "I'll just move-"

"Hey, I don't mind. You're fur is really soft and feels good." Relics reassured, making the minx blush. She sat back down and didn't say anything, just let their arms and shoulders rub up against each other.

'_Why's she so nervous? It must be the scary movie, and it hasn't even started yet. Oh man! By the end of this shitty movie, she'll be all over me like sex on a beach in the drink! Sweet, sweet, SWEET!'_

"Here you two, extra butter." Fox said and handed Relics the popcorn bag that Relics paid for but Fox opted to go get it. "Have fun you two."

"Y-You're not sitting next to us?" Lana asked as thoughts of what they might do together in the darkness entered her mind. She didn't want to go against her parent's will, but when she was with Relics, she didn't give a flying fuck what they thought. Being with him was something else and it made her feel free but contained as she did not want to overdo something and drive him off. The minx felt that if she opened up to people all she'd do is drive them away, which is why she kept herself close to the vest.

"Nah, we'll be up over there, just minding our own business." Miyu purred and led Fox away by the hand.

'_Those two are my favorite people right now. All I got to do now is not ruin this and get nervous… holy crap her breasts are huge… OH NO!'_ Relics thought and quickly put the large container filled to the brim with popcorn onto his lap. _'Good thing it doesn't have a hole in the bottom.'_

"Good thing it's Fox, Bill or Falco would have put a hole in the bottom." Lana said and took a handful of buttery popcorn. _'Not that I'd have minded.'_ The minx caught herself thinking but quickly banished those thoughts to the back of her mind.

Relics couldn't respond as his mind had worked its way into the gutter and all she could think about was her soft hands running up and down his buttery surprise. Fortunately the movie started and Relics was brought back out of his quickly escalating romantic novel in the making. The credits were stupid for some other Cornerian movies that looked stupid but once they were through, the real thing began.

It started off cliché; a group of preppy friends went off into the woods and slept in an old log wood cabin. Then things started to get really good as one by one, the nine teens were weaned down from nine to seven yet the killer had yet to be shown. Lana was out of her mind terrified while Relics could see everything coming a mile away so he was almost falling asleep… until….

"AGH OH GOD! NO!" A busty rabbit cried out as the killer was finally revealed as a swarm of giant spiders.

"FUCK THAT!" Relics yelped and jumped back behind his chair and hid.

'…_FFFFuck.'_

"Relics? Are you okay?" Lana asked as she peeked over the chair at the trembling human.

"Oh fine, just fine. Just uh… sorry." Relics said and climbed back over the chair and sat down next to Lana, burning red with embarrassment, having completely ruined the plan to ask her out with his idiotic shenanigans.

They were silent for a while and the movie became pointless. Lana sensed something deep was troubling, perhaps some personal trauma that dated back years in his life. She wanted to ask him about it but couldn't, that is until a spider showed its face to the camera making Relics cringe and start dry heaving.

"Um… Relics, I couldn't help but notice your discomfort around arachnids." Lana pointed out when he recovered.

'_Really! You don't say?'_

"Yeah, I hate those things." Relics admitted.

Lana's tail twitched as she realized that she was close to getting him to open up. "My father also hates spiders, as much as you do in fact. When he was younger, he was swarmed by a bunch of spiders and nearly killed. Did… did something like that happen to you?"

Relics sighed. "No."

"Relics…" Lana said putting her hand on the human's hand which was clamping down on the armrest, practically breaking it, "you can tell me anything, I'm your friend."

'_Lana… you're so amazing. I just want to hold you in my arms and spend the rest of my days.'_ Relics thought as his fear waned.

"Well…" Relics grunted and cleared his throat. "When I… when I was a kid… my dad had a pet tarantula he got from tour on Corsair Gamma Nine. At first I kind of like it, it was so weird compared to the other species on Mar Sara that I kind of liked. But then… one day it got out of its cage and I was just playing in my room. I was probably three, maybe four at the time, just playing with my army men. I was setting them all up when I saw it and… I thought it wanted to play too. Because I was a stupid kid I tried to pick it up but it crawled right up my arm and bit me on the neck." The human recanted and then put his fingers on his jugular where the spider had bitten him.

"Oh, you poor thing." Lana said as she wrapped her arm around the human and stroked his hair. "No child should have to go through that."

"Yeah, stupid preppy teenagers only apparently." Relics said, implying the movie they were watching. "But since then, every time I see something with more than six legs my instincts take over and I put in as much distance between myself and that loathsome creature."

The minx rested her head on the human's shoulder, only half listening to him now. She was completely interested in his story but she was also interested in how good it felt to lean on him and just enjoy his company. She listened to him talk and enjoyed his scent, his body was warm to the touch and his voice was so comforting. Even if some ditzy blond just got spun up in a web and eaten by a thousand smaller spiders, Lana couldn't find a better place to be right now then leaning on his shoulder.

It reminded her of the night they shared a bed together. She was so ready and willing to let him take her, to show her gratitude and the love she felt for him. He had rescued her from Wolf, looked after her the entire day, and kept her safe during the storm. Could he be the one? Could he be a potential life mate? But how could he be? He's a human, but it still feels so right.

"Thanks Lana." Relics sighed when he was done talking about how his dad used to tease him with rubber spiders on Halloween.

"Not a problem Relics. I'm here anytime." Lana purred as Relics rested his head on hers, his warm breath tickling her feline like ears making them twitch. Her pulse began to quicken when Relics' hand encompassed hers, holding it in a gentle embrace.

'_Man, this is perfect. There's not a thing I'm not crazy about this girl for. She's the best damn part of this tour.'_

"Oh wow that was a lot of blood. Pass the popcorn?" Lana sighed sweetly. A handful of buttery goodness quickly vanished into her mouth and as she chewed her purr grew louder. "Hey, do you wanna get out of here?"

"What about Fox and Miyu?" Relics asked excited and anxious all at once. Just what did she want to do somewhere else? His neglected libido was coming up with a dozens of ideas every time his heart pumped blood.

"They left about ten minutes ago. No doubt we'll want to wash our clothes after we get out of Fox's car next."

'_Oh God! Those animals!'_

Relics took one look at a spider's fangs puncturing the back of a wolf's head and then through his eyes making them jut out in three dimensions. "Yeah, let's go."

Lana popped right up out of her chair, excited to go out walking and just hang out with her friend. She was hoping a change of scenery (perhaps one with less blood, guts, and ghastly looking spiders) might coax the human to perform a romantic gesture. Sure her parents might not approve, but after what Relics did for the McCloud's, and the kids in the hospital, he had earned a less evil light for himself. At this point, all he had to do was ask and she'd accept him as her boyfriend.

"Do you know a place around here?" Relics asked as he zipped up his jacket and pulled up his hoodie. He wasn't cold; it just drew less attention to himself this way.

"There's an awesome club just a few blocks from here." Lana suggested as she walked fairly closely to Relics, brushing up against his arm with her own and taking in more of his amiable scent and further committing it to memory. "They've got dancing, lights, drinks, and a backroom there if you're lucky."

Relics smirked at this sudden bad girl side of Lana. It dawned on him that he could live with Lana for a hundred years, grow old and die with her, but he'd probably never learn everything about and she'd always be able to surprise him. She was so timid around other people, but when they were together without Bill or Falco to make things awkward, she started to open up and show her amazing and sparky personality.

Relics sniggered as they stepped out of the warm movie theater into the cool and crisp air of Corneria City in the autumn. "Oh really? And mommy and daddy would approve?"

Lana gave him a look but purred. "Alright mister, you lost your handy jay."

'_ARGH! NO! I know she's just kidding, but NOOOO! Her soft hands would feel SO good on my rock hard-'_


	27. Agent Six Four

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Hey guys, you've really been spoiling me with the reviews so I'll spoil you with another chapter.**_

The music. That's all that seemed to matter in the world. The music was loud, loud enough to drown out the human's own thoughts. It was so energizing and breathtaking that Relics couldn't resist it enflaming his blood and body with energy. He wanted to move to the bass, he wanted to dance to the rhythm; he wanted to cry out in awe as the lights all seemed to play in the air like little sprites. Those lights seemed to move with wills of their own and did not seem like they belonged in a world without magic.

Everyone around him either didn't notice or didn't care that he was a human, they just danced. He went unnoticed for one of the first times since he got here and he noticed that everyone had a partner to dance with so he understood why. Some couples were dancing together; others looked like they were getting it on right there.

Relics wondered where his "date" had gotten off to, but then all the lights vanished and the music turned down as the song took a small respite to build up the tension before unleashing another wave of amazing music. The human looked around for her but soon saw that all the lights hadn't disappeared but they had in fact collected around one astonishing dancer.

Her body moved with such grace and energy, her hair was like it had its own life as it swirled and waved with her motions. She was dancing so well she was starting to grab attention, mainly from the intrigued dateless women and the annoyed women who had boyfriends ogling her. Relics forgot all about dancing with her, he was already so captivated by her, but that all changed when some guy approached her.

"Hey girl, why don't you dance with me?" He asked.

Something snapped in Relics that wasn't supposed to and he felt a pure rage course through his medulla oblongata. He wanted to break every bone in the man's body but Lana hurt him far more than he could, and she went right for the pride. She simply ignored him and moved straight to Relics.

"Hey there handsome, want to dance with me?"

'_Among other things.'_

Relics fed her a cocky smirk that she ate up gleefully. The Cornerian took the human by the hand and they began near the middle of the dance floor. For a solid hour they danced together. Their bodies touched and grinded up against each other. Their scents, sweat, and their souls conjoined as their bodies touched in a fiery passionate dance.

They drew in close, no longer caring if they touched. Their faces drew in close and their eyes connected, the dazzling lights shining off their red and silver orbs. The two came so close to kissing, their mouths opened expectantly while they kept moving in closer and closer.

Lana gasped when their more sensitive areas grinded together. Relics' eyes dilated and the duo stopped and stared at each other awkwardly. They couldn't deny how great it felt but they still felt very nervous about exploring these feelings.

"You want to get something to drink?" Relics asked to end the awkward silence.

"I'd love a drink right now." Lana replied, hoping her heart was beating so fast because of the dancing, and not because of how bothered she was becoming. Her face flushed red and her body tingled with a delightful current of electricity.

They walked up to the bar and ordered drinks; Relics took some harder liquor while Lana took a softer drink and found a secluded booth to sit at.

"You're a really good dancer." Relics said over the music which had slowed down finally.

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself." Lana purred and took a shot leaving her with two more.

"I was trying to keep up, I doubt anyone here could." Relics shrugged. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"

Lana shrugged back. "The shower I guess. I dunno, I've always danced, even when I was a little girl. I guess over the years I came up with my own style."

'_God damn she's amazing.'_ Relics thought to himself as he watched her slam a shot and let out a exasperated sigh.

"What about you?"

Relics cocked an eyebrow. "What about me?" He asked and took a shot of his blue Cornerian drink. It burned as it went down but it immediately combusted a fire in his gut and sent quakes down to his toes.

Lana laughed and showed him her glittering white teeth in a beautiful smile. "You know what I mean." She purred and stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Where did you learn to dance?"

Relics scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Like I said, all I did was follow your movements. After a while I sort of just fell into sync with you. If I had to dance on my own you'd see just how little I can actually dance."

Lana's mood changed from a hearty joy to a bit put off. "Did you use your… powers on me?"

'_Boy I'd like to.'_

"No. No I only use those in emergencies." Relics said quietly so that they wouldn't be overheard, not like anyone could hear them over the loud music, which was why he was talking about it in public in the first place. "I wouldn't use my enhancements on you Lana, not like they'd be able to hurt you anyway."

"What's it like being so gifted?" Lana asked, leaning in on the little table, her chest almost spilling out much to the human's enjoyment.

'_If only the designer had made it just a quarter of an inch smaller!'_

Relics swirled his drink in his cup and sighed. "Imagine feeling superior to everyone but hate it, imagine having the power to do anything and be loathed for it, imagine being idolized when nobody likes you."

Lana blinked and her muzzle fell an inch. "Why? I thought people would embrace these gifts. It makes your kind stronger."

Relics shook his head. "My people are afraid of individuals like me. They see us as a homogenized threat that could take their way of life. I can move faster than everyone else, it gives me a real edge in the work force. But mostly it's because not everyone is compatible with genetic alterations. At most they can get hearing amplifiers but I was one of the luckier ones." Relics explained and took a shot and growled at the wonderful burn.

"My genetic code was complex enough that it could take the changes without turning me into something inhuman. There were drawbacks to so many enhancements but the perks outweigh the disadvantages." Relics went on taking yet another shot as the topic was dry to him, but so interesting to his date. "It's quite painful actually, it's like moving your cells around at eighty miles an hour until the doctor's done."

"So why did you do it?" Lana asked having completely forgotten her drinks and instead focused solely on him.

Relics opened his mouth to talk but he stopped. "I was stupid, let's just leave it at that."

'_That's right, close your mind and put up walls, that's the cornerstone to a healthy relationship. Still, I've told her _way_ more than she needs to know.'_

"So you're sexy and stupid. Got it." Lana said with a straight face making Relics double take. Before he could respond she giggled up a storm.

Relics was about to say something when guys who couldn't hold their liquor started trolling the girls just trying to have a good time. Lana saw them and the trouble they were causing and wanted to get out of dodge before they saw her. It was something about her looks that always attracted assholes, and of course Relics who was the only exception thus far.

"Let's get out of here; this place is starting to bomb." Relics said who noticed the drunken guys too and not wanting to have to break someone's face, he decided it would be best if they left soon. Lana nodded and finished off her drinks quickly sparking Relics' competitive side. They locked eyes. Both had one drink left and their hands encompassed their glasses. In a flash they threw the glasses up to their mouths and downed it then slammed it down on the table.

"HA… oh." They said simultaneously as they realized they did their shots in the same amount of time. It was strange because it wasn't often they found someone who could drink as well as themselves.

"And where did you learn to drink like that?" Relics grinned.

"Middle school." Lana smirked and headed towards the door with him at her side.

~X~X~X~X~X~

The sun was setting before Relics realized how long they'd been walking. For almost two hours they'd just walked randomly through the city park and talked. A third wheel would have shot his or herself because of how much they talked. Not even five minutes of silence totaled up as they had motor mouthed it the entire time.

'_Jesus Christ! I can't get enough of her! We have so much in common it's scary to think!'_ Relics thought as he listened to Lana about the kinds of music she listened to. _'She likes the foods I like, she listens to decent music, she likes to run, she loves animals, she dislikes spiders although not as much as I do. If she says another thing I like then-'_

"-and so I say to Fara, alright I'll make out with you but not on camera!"

'…_MARRY ME!'_

"And did you?" Relics asked, trying not to show how red he was turning.

Lana smirked and didn't answer, but that was all the yes he needed. Walking became rather difficult as his third leg started to ache and grow stiff. He quickly relaxed his third appendage below the waist by remembering just how cold it was getting. Relics looked over and saw the minx starting to shiver a little and took off his jacket.

"Here, you look cold." Relics said and wrapped it around the minx before she could refuse.

"But-" Lana began but stopped when Relics scent attacked her twitchy nose. She pulled it tighter against herself and inhaled deeply while the human wasn't watching. The next few sensations she felt made her knees buckle as a rush of warmth, happiness and pleasure enveloped the young woman. He smelt so masculine but so fresh that she couldn't help but take another whiff of his jacket.

'Oh God that's good.' The minx purred in her mind. 'I want to have this smell in my room every night!'

When the minx came back to her senses she remembered that Relics now only had his shirt on. The right thing to do was give him back his coat so he didn't freeze, but knowing Relics and him being a guy, he'd rather cut off his own arm before accepting his coat back.

"I can't take this Relics, here…" She said trying to hand him his coat back but he smiled in response.

"Nah I'm good. You need it more than me." Relics lied when in reality he was freezing his ass off. What he wouldn't give to have that jacket back, or the minx on to keep him warm. Still, his pride wouldn't allow himself to take comfort in his jacket when his date shivered beside him.

The trees began to dance in a small autumn breeze and their leaves fell off by the dozen, swirling around the supposed lovers. The minx purred as the leaves surrounded them in a beautifully swirling vortex. Her heart prayed that he might try something, anything that would make them a couple. Try as she might, she could not resist thinking about what it would be like to be his. Her last relationship had crippled her deeply, but when she looked into his eyes she saw a piece of herself and she saw her love returned.

Only a fool couldn't see Relics' change in behavior when she came around, his body language tensed and he became so reserved but his eyes spoke words beyond any level he could with his voice. Was it really love, or was it lust? It had been so long since she had known either, that is until the human came to her world and they connected.

Suddenly her hand felt a warmth encompass it. She looked down to see Relics' hand holding hers. She blushed, unable to believe that this was really happening. He came closer to her and looked her in the eyes.

"Lana, I wanted to…" Relics began but slipped as his courage threatened to give way. He was now holding an alien anthropomorphic minx's hand and was on the verge of asking her to be his girlfriend. His heart was racing and his knees were shaking but he steeled his resolve, he had to. Nothing made him happier but then to be around her, to talk to her… to hold her. He wanted to take their relationship to the next level and all he had to do was ask.

'_God damn it! Grow a damn pair and do it before it's too late!'_ Relics told himself. _'You both want each other, it's not that hard! If she were a human you'd have been going out by now! JUST DO IT!'_

Relics grit his teeth and looked back into the minx's eyes with an emboldened and fiery will to finish what he started. Lana saw this change in him and looked on with eagerness and joy. He was finally going to ask her! All this time waiting and she'd finally have him, her hero, her love, her taboo.

"Lana, I wanted to ask you if you'd go out-"

"Oh, my _god_! Lana! Is that you girl!" A loud, over emphasized and accented voice asked breaking the moment and the beings' hand contact.

Lana blinked and turned around, ready to kill that insufferable bitch that ruined her chance at happiness. When she came face to face with large pair of tits she stopped and looked up. A slight wince of fear ran through the minx until she realized who the tall woman was.

"Me-Melina?"

The taller girl squealed and hugged her friend Lana. Lana was so surprised that she didn't hug back and was left to suffocate in the robin's chest, leaving Relics to stand there and brood as he watched the robin and the minx.

'_What! But- I- she! …I was so close. How the fuck can this get _any_ worse?'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

"All lights green: begin descent." A white haired man grunted to his tech officer and she nodded affirmation.

A few hundred thousand miles from the massive and beautiful green and blue planet, a ship clung to a wayward asteroid. The asteroid was small enough to go unchallenged by the planetary defenses, but large enough to allow the camouflaged ship to rest safely on it. Normally an asteroid would have been turned into space dust by the nearest patrol ship, but with the asteroid field so close to Corneria and so many of them being small enough to simply burn up in the atmosphere, like this one was now, they went unscathed and unwatched.

The humans knew this as their probes and satellite cameras had been attentively watching the Cornerian fleet's movements for months. A plan had been laid out to provide backup and supplies for the undercover mission that agent sixty-four was now on.

Within minutes the asteroid had made it to the planet's atmosphere and started to break up somewhere over a massive ocean. The descent was hard on the submersible craft but it held long enough to break the surface of the ocean and remain hidden from Cornerian sensors.

"Report."

"All conditions normal Sharp, shall we make contact with agent sixty-four?"

A white haired man grunted affirmation and the white haired woman quickly began pressing buttons on her command console. They waited a few minutes but there was no response so they gave up for now.

Sharp's dark grey eyes became even darker as he realized that their sole operative and reason for coming to the enemy's home world was not responding. He should know that they were coming by now, unless their last message to him was intercepted. If that was the case they were dead in the water and would be taken captive the second they breached the water for air.

"We'll try again later, agent six four better have a good reason why he hasn't responded." The man growled and looked to the man at his left. "Cain, get the cloaking kits ready just in case."

"Aye Captain." The beast of a man with white hair sreplied and quickly moved to obey the command.

'_You've got a lot of nerve for ignoring me kid.'_ Sharp growled in his head as he leaned back in his chair while the submersible craft made its course to Corneria City.

~X~X~X~X~X

"Oh come on!" Jason growled when his phone started going off. His night was already a disappointment without work trying to call him. He loaded up the fans that had made the leaves swirl around the two into the back of the SUV before accepting the call.

"Mahoney." The German Sheppard said sharply when he put the phone to his ear.

"Mahoney, get the kid back home immediately." A too familiar voice ordered.

The fur on the canine's neck stood up and his teeth clenched. "Aye, aye General."

"Be quick about it, we have reason to believe there is another Venomian plot on Relics' life." The old hound dog said before the line was cut.

Without hesitation, Jason walked to the driver's seat and pulled out his illegally modified blaster and primed it. His blaster was specially made for him, its grip, weight, and rate of fire was perfectly calibrated to his style. As for the modifications, the sheer power of the blaster could rip through steel as easily as it did soft flesh, the energy conducting metal it shot for the energy to hold on to was jagged to create as much damage to skin and veins as possible, and the energy output was enough to take down a rhinoceros. To put it simply, the blaster would tear through any Kevlar vest, tear through your body creating a massive laceration you'd eventually bleed out from, but odds were you'd die from the electric shock before anything if you were lucky.

The soldier put the weapon in the hidden pocket of his coat and put his game face on. This was not the first time Jason had to pull the human away on such short notice, in fact, this happened on the human and the minx's first date.

The minx was the one he was least worried about however, if she died then the Venom would be on the receiving end of an ass whooping as their growing support would die overnight and retaliation would come the next day. If Relics died however, his people would go bat-shit crazy, and who knows what would happen after that?

"Jay? What's wrong?" Chloe asked when he came back from the hidden SUV. She was sitting on a park bench minding her own business now that Lana's friend had shown up and ruined everything.

"We've got to go." Jason said firmly and didn't wait for her to respond. "Get to the car, don't turn on the lights. I love you." He said and quickly stormed over to the trio several dozen meters away.

Chloe wanted to ask questions but she knew better. There was never a time he'd act this way around her unless it was very serious. So, following her husband's orders she quickly scurried back to the SUV and climbed in the front seat.

Jason sped walked through the park to meet up with Relics, all the while making sure no one was following him. No one else was around yet as he walked he could have sworn he heard another set of footsteps. He stopped suddenly and turned around, his hand going straight for his blaster but he stopped. No one was there.

Jason sighed and moved on but the echoing of footsteps continued. He couldn't explain it but he felt like they were getting closer and closer. A cold chill flooded his heart and he knew he had to do something or he'd be killed. His life didn't matter a damn to him, but then they'd go after Relics if he was taken out.

'_Three… two… ONE!'_ Jason thought before he tripped over the back of his left foot. As he fell he spun around and drew his blaster and fired two silenced rounds. The result was one satisfying thump and one more painful thump as Jason hit the ground.

The canine quickly got up and looked around for the dead man's backup but found only the deserted park. Jason quickly rummaged through the man's belongings and sure enough found a very sharp and very jagged knife. There was no way this guy was a common thug either as Jason also found a thick energy absorbing vest underneath his dirty denim jacket.

'_That was too close.'_ Jason sighed mentally and pulled out his phone to call in support, and there was only one group that he could trust during a moment like this.

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Melina!" Lana gasped when she was let free from her friend's hug and breasts. "When did you get back?"

The avian ruffled her feathers (implying she was happy) and said. "Only today, Macbeth was fun and all but it was too hot so I came back to live with my mom."

'_Yay… whoopee…'_ Relics scowled in his head.

"Relics! It's great to finally meet you, you never called." The robin pouted moving from her friend to a stranger like partners in a dance.

'_Never called? Who the Hell is this dumb bitch that fucked up my shot at asking Lana- …oh yeah.'_ Relics thought when he remembered the first day where he got a note from Falco saying it was from robin with "breasts so large they'd hit the wall before her beak would" (in his exact words). And he was right.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I thought that since it was Falco it was some sort of trap. I can't sit down without having to worry about what he or Bill put on my seat in that split second I looked the other way." Relics made up when in truth he completely forgot about her when he met Lana.

The robin's feathers ruffled making her look puffy. "Oh those two, never a dull moment with them around." She laughed. "I can understand that, those two pulled a few over me before." She said and cut Lana off from the conversation by standing in the middle of them. Relics didn't notice but the minx's claws came out and nearly cut the bitch's throat.

She hissed in her throat quietly and sheathed her claws. Taking deep breaths she tried to calm herself.

'_Just stay calm, she's only talking to him. No need to get territorial. Besides, it's not like we're dating, if Relics wants to he can go out with Melina… not sure why he'd go out with a corpse though.'_

"So are you two… alone?" The red robin asked taking a quick glance around to find that no one was in the vicinity like she thought.

"No, we're alone right now." Lana said and walked around so that she stood at Relics' side and not behind the bird. Her breath was now visible and she let out a long sigh when her friend cocked an eyebrow and chirped humorously.

"So, you two huh?"

'_Well we would have been if you hadn't shown up.'_ Relics and Lana thought sourly despite their pleasant appearances. Neither one had to say it but they both knew that the perfect opportunity was blown just now.

"No, we're friends." Lana said firmly so not to play into her friend's game.

"So he's single?" The robin asked giving Relics a seductive look with her orange eyes.

'_Yeah… no, not happening Polly.'_ Relics growled in his mind as all he wanted was Lana.

"Relics!"

'_Oh God, what now?'_ Relics groaned and turned around to see Jason jogging up to them in civilian attire. Relics blinked and opened his mouth to greet him but Jason flashed Relics the emergency signal and that just made the human colder.

"Uh, Melina." Relics said turning to the avian. "Lana and I need to get going, we're meeting up with someone and we-"

"Oh what's the rush?" The robin giggled. "I'm sure your friends can wait just a bit longer. I haven't seen Lana in months and I've been dying to meet you."

Relics looked back and saw that Jason had stopped and was now urgently waving him over. Relics turned back and shook his head.

"Sorry, we really gotta go." Relics said and wrapped his arm around Lana surprising her at his sudden straightforward gesture. Her face turned red and she immediately fell submitted to his lead, not that she was complaining.

"Okay." The robin sighed but didn't lose any of her perk. "I'll see you two tomorrow then!"

Relics feigned a smile and with Lana in his arm he quickly sped off towards Jason. When they got to him he led them a different route that would take them around the body.

"You two have fun?" Jason asked casually trying desperately not to alert the cute minx and freak her out. She wasn't stupid though and she caught on the mounting desperation in Relics and his bodyguard.

"Relics? What's going on?" Lana whispered as they followed the speed walking canine out of the park.

Relics didn't say anything at first. He gripped her tighter against himself, not uncomfortably, but protectively. He'd died once before, he could handle dying, but losing someone close to him he couldn't. Already he'd lost his father, could he take another loss so soon? A year had allowed for his wounds to begin healing, another death could very well result in his own death.

"Of course Lana, Jason just really wants to get us home, he's expecting." Relics lied on the spot when he knew Chloe wasn't pregnant yet.

Lana knew something was still wrong but she trusted the human. "Congratulations." She told the canine who grunted in response and kept his hands in his pocket, always in his pocket.

As they quickly walked to the SUV Relics and Jason kept at full alert, never dropping their guard. Jason was ready to blow anything away and Relics was ready to throw himself in front of anything that could endanger Lana.

A small dot worked its way onto the back of the human's head. The trio didn't realize it but there was a sniper hiding under some bushes just a hundred meters away. He smiled to himself and thought of the massive reward he'd get for claiming the alien's life. His fingers gently squeezed the trigger but they only got halfway before his body went limp.

A vulpine pulled his combat knife out of the assassin's skull and sighed. "I can't believe I'm missing family dinner for you." The vulpine growled as he cleaned the knife off on the man's coat. When he was done he radioed in. "This is McCloud, the human is secure, I repeat, the human is secure. Have the money wired to my account in the morning."

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Well, thanks for taking me out Relics." Lana sighed sleepily as they walked up to the front porch of her luxurious home. The ride to her place seemed to have sapped her energy leaving her very tired but happy with today. She got to go on a date with Relics, no news reporters ruined it, they managed to stay out of sight for the most part, and she even got to find out just a little about human anatomy. She blushed at the memory of their bodies accidently rubbing up against each other down there, how hot and exciting it felt.

"It was my pleasure. We should do it again sometime." Relics spoke with a suave tone in his voice all the while ignoring Jason's impatient gestures to get a move on.

The minx purred and smiled blushingly. "I'd like that."

'_Sigh, if only her parents weren't watching through the window.'_ Relics thought as he gazed at her tantalizing lips that begged to connect with his own.

There was a bit of a pause before the end but that didn't mean they didn't enjoy it.

"Goodnight Relics." Lana said and hugged her date and received an embrace in return. When they were done a few seconds longer then her parents liked, they separated and the beautiful minx went inside but not before blowing Relics a kiss.

Relics smirked and trudged back to the SUV where the canine waited on the edge of his seat. "You know, if I wasn't the unluckiest guy in the world, I'd be the luckiest guy in the world." Relics sighed.

"Yeah, it's a shame people may want to kill you and spoil all your moments with the girl you wanna bang." Jason said and climbed into the car where he got a playful smack on the arm from his wife. "What?" He laughed.

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked to the back seat when Relics got in. "I think she is a wonderful girl, and I'm sorry things didn't work out tonight."

Relics shrugged. "There's always next time… anyways, I really appreciate that thing you did with the fans and made the leaves swirl. But why did we have to leave so soon?"

Jason cleared his throat. "General's orders. He had a drill set up to test just how fast we could get you to safety. Sadly it happened to be tonight. I knew it was coming but I didn't know what day it was. Sorry… if it means anything, you found someone as special as my Chloe. Least that's my opinion."

"Oh Jason." Chloe purred and rested her head on Jason's shoulder as he pulled out of the parking lot.

For a while, Relics looked at the happy couple with jealousy and gloom. He wanted a special someone like Jason had, but the person he wanted seemed to be forever out of his reach. Just one night alone, without parents, friends, or distractions was all he needed.

'_Good night Lana, I wish I could say that to you in person right now.'_

Meanwhile in the minx's room, the tired teenager plopped down onto her bed making it groan with her added weight. She sighed but then inhaled deeply, savoring Relics' scent from his jacket. Her eyes popped open when she realized she was still wearing it but she promised herself she'd return it tomorrow.

'_At least tonight I have this.'_ She thought gloomily but her mood brightened after another taste of his scent. _'Good night Relics, I wish I could say that to you in person right now.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Alright, slight recap here. Relics doesn't know about tonight's assassination plot and Jason is keeping that from him. The team that landed in Corneria's ocean is a human team and you probably guessed by their similar features to Relics that they are also enhanced. And finally Melina is from a past chapter, was mentioned briefly but now is back… and for what or who might we ask?**_


	28. More Than Human

Relics sighed and let himself get comfortable on the couch of his new home. He'd been here for three weeks but he felt like he'd only been at Chloe's and Jason's for a few hours. Chloe made amazing food, Jason was his bro, and Lana and he were inseparable so time just flew by.

A sudden sound of water running awoke the human from his lazing about a few minutes later. In seconds he was up on his feet and in the kitchen to find Chloe working on a pile of dishes that had accumulated over the day. She was humming to herself as she worked and Relics smiled while he watched. Chloe was such an amazing woman. She opened up her doors to him, would do anything for just for the asking, and she made the best damn hamburgers he had ever eaten. Just once he wished he could be as wonderful to her as she was to him.

"Hey Chloe, need help- oh sorry!" Relics said sheepishly when Chloe jumped and hissed in fright.

The purple panther breathed heavily and smiled sweetly. "Honey, you can't do that to me."

"S-Sorry." Relics murmured.

Chloe clicked her tongue and purred. "No, don't be. It's alright. What ya need hon?"

"I was just wondering if you needed some help with that." Relics said and pointed to the mound of dishes in the sink.

The feline smiled but shook her head. "No, no. I've got this."

"But I insist!" Relics insisted insistently. "I do so little around here and I notice you do so much. I'd really like to help."

Chloe sighed. "Alright, I can see I'm not going to win this one Mr. Stubborn." She said playfully and stuck out her pink tongue.

'_Like you're any better, mom- whoa there.'_ Relics thought when he realized what he called her.

Shaking off his stray thoughts, Relics picked up a sponge, lathered it with soap, and set to work. As they cleaned the dishes they talked about all kinds of things, favorite food, school, and Chloe couldn't help but ask about the suspended peace talks.

Relics shrugged. "I don't know why we can't make an agreement. I honestly think that our politicians and bureaucrats aren't looking at the bigger picture."

Chloe's tail flicked impulsively as she scrubbed a pan. "If only we could see it through your eyes, Relics. I… hate to admit but I _am_ afraid of you." The panther admitted which crushed the poor human. "I get better every day and I really like having you around. You make me so proud that I…"

'_What? You what?'_ Relics wondered holding his breath.

She looked away brimming red because of what she was about to tell him. "I wish that you were my son."

Relics blinked and his heart stopped. He couldn't believe what he just heard. His first thoughts turned to anger, how dare she say that? He had a mother and it certainly wasn't her! But then it dawned on him a second later. He never really had a mother, and Chloe was the closest thing he'd ever had to one. She was so nice to him, cared for him, would help him burry the body probably.

Chloe shook her head. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said th- honey? What's wrong?"

Relics jaw was clenched and his eyes were as sharp as a dagger. He looked like he was struggling with something. For a moment Chloe thought she should get out of the room but then her heart melted when she saw the glistening of his eyes. Her ears laid back and her pupils grew wide as she wished she could have taken back what she said. She knew his parents were a touchy subject yet she went there anyways.

Her trembling paw touched his shoulder and he sighed. "You wish I was your son, huh?"

"Well… yes. I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you or your mother." Chloe said trying to make amends but Relics laughed instead.

"You know…" Relics said blinking his eyes and the tears away, "the more I think about it, you're the closest thing I've had to one. You're so kind to me… me, a stranger, a human, an alien." Relics looked at her with slightly reddening eyes. "Why?"

"I don't see you like that. I see the bigger picture." She smiled as her lavender eyes sparkled in the sun's setting light.

Without warning, Relics embraced the panther in a firm but gentle hug. He fought the tears but a few still made it through but she didn't care: Relics could have cried his eyes out on her most expensive shirts and dresses for all she cared because she was here for him whenever he needed her. Rubbing his back like a mother would sparked several maternal instincts in her and the line was now crossed; Relics was her child now, her kit.

"I've never had a mother before." Relics admitted when they separated.

"Then I'll be sure not to disappoint." Chloe giggled just as Relics' wrist com went off.

"I doubt you could even if you wanted to." Relics said and cleared his throat. "You mind if I take this?"

"No dear, go on." Chloe purred.

Relics thanked her and stepped into the other room to answer the call. He checked the caller ID but none popped up. Not many people knew his phone number so he reckoned it was someone who knew him. When he answered he found that he was right, although he wished it was someone else and more feline.

"Relics! How ya doing?"

"Oh, hey Melina." Relics said as nicely as he could. He didn't really like her all that much as he was still sour about her last second interruption that would have sealed his relationship with Lana. "I'm doing fine, how are you?"

"Oh just wonderful darling. I'm out in town just walking along and wondered if you wanted to join me?" Melina asked all innocent like.

"Uh… well sure I guess. Who else is with you?" Relics asked not really wanting to go but also not wanting to be rude.

"No one, it'd be just us." She said with a tone that made Relics a bit uncomfortable. He felt like he was betraying Lana even though they weren't really a couple despite how much he wanted to be. Thinking about holding her soft hand and her softer pads made him blush a bit but he brought himself back to the subject at hand.

"S-Sure. Where are you? I'm sure I could hang out for a few hours."

"Great! I'm downtown by the park. You remember the park where we first met, right?"

'_How could I forget you goddamn cock block?'_

"Yeah I remember. See you in a few minutes." Relics said and went back in the kitchen, quickly helped Chloe finish the dishes and then approached Jason for a ride to the park.

"I don't know, are you sure? I mean, Lana's such a sweet girl and all." Jason said when Relics told him he was going to meet Melina. "I know she's got _huge_ tits but-"

"It's not like that at all. I'm crazy about Lana and I'm not going to ruin that for some big breasted robin." Relics argued meaning every word he said. He had a more level head then Jason gave him credit for. He wasn't some poon hound like most every guy was, and he'd die before he'd ruin his chances with Lana.

Jason gave him a skeptical look but had to agree. "Alright, grab a sweater or something and I'll get you there." Relics thanked the canine and assured him that he wouldn't do something stupid before he ran upstairs to fetch his coat. "Command, it's Mahoney. Yeah, he's going out on the town with the avian girl from the last incident. Bring extra agents, I've got a bad feeling about her." Jason said through his two way communicator.

"Understood Mahoney, Delta team is inbound and will maintain observation of the human. Command out."

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Thanks Jason, and don't worry, _I'm not_ going to do something stupid." He reassured him yet again.

"Yeah, yeah. Call me when you need to be picked up or if something goes wrong." Jason reminded before driving off.

Relics didn't like how Jason seemed so apprehensive of him. Relics just wasn't that kind of guy to betray someone's trust like that.

'_If you don't count the fact that I'm a spy.'_ Relics thought making himself feel like crap. The longer he stayed on Corneria, the more and more he wanted to back out and just go home. But he was _long_ past the point of no return now. The mission would go on, with or without him alive.

"Relics!" A sweet southern-ish voice called out behind him.

'_Here we go.'_ He thought and turned around to be crushed by a deceptively strong avian. She was squeezed the life out of him and it didn't help that her breasts it so that her arms didn't have to pull back very far to crush him. _'I always knew I'd be killed by tits, and yet I never tried to do anything about it.'_

When she let go Relics had to gasp for breath which made her giggle. "Sorry, I don't know my own strength."

"It's cool." Relics coughed. "So uh, what's up?"

The red robin ruffled her feathers. "Oh just hanging out. I had to bail on a few people cause I just couldn't stand them, you know? Yet they always want to hang out and be friends."

'_Yeah, you're a bitch.'_

"Tell me about it." Relics grunted as they started walking. It was cold out so not very many people were around as they'd much rather get to someplace warm, which made the park practically deserted despite how beautiful it was with all the multicolored leaves and all.

As they walked they touched quite often, and unlike with Lana it wasn't subtle or accidental. It seemed that the more they went on walking and talking, the more she touched and rubbed up against him. It started off innocent, but then Relics felt her get a little frisky with him.

"You want to get something to drink? There's a really nice espresso place down the road from here." Melina suggested to which Relics was especially grateful for since he was getting mixed feelings from being touched so much by a woman with such large breasts.

'_That's the only thing that comes to mind when I hear her name. Melina- oh you mean big boob lady!'_

"Sounds great, I could use something to warm me up." Relics shivered and then shivered again but not because of the cold.

"I could always find something else to warm you up." Melina said as she rubbed up against him, her hand grazing his hind.

The contact was so sudden that a response was lost to Relics and her giggling killed a chance to respond and tell her he wasn't interested. He couldn't deny he liked it however; a woman's touch after such a long time of nothing was always pleasant.

"Ah, thank you." Melina chirped when Relics held the door open for her and she stepped into the warm coffee shop that was packed with people. When Relics walked in a green laser ran up and down his body for a split second and was so discreet he almost didn't notice. Shrugging it off as a scan for weapons, Relics followed her to a more secluded booth and sat down.

"So, uh Melina." Relics said trying to break the ice as they waited for a service bot to bring a menu. "Why haven't I seen you at school?"

"Oh, I go to a private school up north. I wish I still went to Corneria High but I haven't been able to convince my mother otherwise." Melina admitted sadly. "But, at least I still have my old friends, especially Lana. She's one in a million."

'_Tell me about it.'_

A service bot showed up finally and they both ordered a drink, Melina got a hardcore coffee while Relics stuck with a mocha thing. They talked a bit longer until their drinks showed up.

"Ah here they are, this looks- oops!" Melina said when her golden ring fell off her finger somehow and fell under the table. "Um, would you mind grabbing that for me?"

'_Whatever.'_ Relics thought in his head while he complied. As soon as his head went under the table however, the avian moved her legs and her skirt moved. It took him until now to realize that she wasn't wearing pants but long furry boots that went up to her knees, and a skirt that went down to her knees. As she sat there and opened her legs, Relics could see right up her skirt and his nose almost started bleeding.

'_Oh m God! OHMYGOD!' _Relics thought as he gapped at her exposed lower anatomy. It took him a few seconds that Melina didn't seem to notice, before he found the ring and popped back up burning absolute red. _'And to think Lana's got one of those.'_

"Find everything okay?" Melina asked slyly like she knew exactly what he had been doing and liked it, when as a matter of fact she did.

"Uh, y-y-yeah." Relics said and couldn't look her in the eyes.

He handed her the ring and drank deeply from his steaming hot coffee.

Melina's beak dropped and she gawked at the human. "Didn't that hurt?"

"Extremely." Relics wheezed and saw a puff of steam escape his mouth. Suddenly his stomach churned and he felt like he had to urgently use the restroom about five minutes ago. "I'll be right back."

"I'll be here." Melina cooed and sipped her coffee through a straw for fowl.

The human quickly paced himself to the bathroom, ignoring the people around him and the closed sign on the door. He slipped inside, locked the door but as suddenly as his intestinal distress lessened and went away. Relics sighed and looked at himself in the mirror. He then splashed some water on his face from the sink and tried to recover from what he just saw. She must have known, she had to know. Relics cleared his throat and splashed more water on his face.

Click.

Relics froze as the sound of a gun cocking went off next to his ear. He held his hands up but was struck down to the ground.

"You've lost your edge. You used to be-" Relics' attacker spouted off before her gun was kicked out of her hand.

The human didn't hesitate and he tackled his opponent at the legs knocking her down. From there the two wrestled until Relics made it on top and pulled his fist back to strike but he found a shock even greater than Melina's womanhood.

"Surprised?" Asked the beaming woman, a human woman.

'_What? But? WHAT THE FUCK!'_

In his moment of stupor, the white haired woman bucked Relics over her head and rolled on top of him then pinned him down. Relics struggled for a second until a knife kissed his throat just behind the jugular.

"Like I said, lost your edge." The woman giggled with an innocent smile. She prodded him with the knife, threatening to break the skin but she stopped just before she left a mark. "You haven't been answering our calls. Sharp is very displeased."

Relics' eyes widened. "Sharp? He's here on Corneria?"

"Yes actually, and he said that if you don't show up tonight then you're as good as dead. Your suit is in the stall on the left, and I seriously suggest that you come to the party tonight." She said and got off him before disappearing from his spectrum of sight. "I'd hate to see your cute little face all over the wall."

The door to the bathroom opened and closed but no one went in or out. Relics watched the door for a second and sighed. Life was going so well just yesterday. Why did the mission have to suddenly come bashing on his door? He knew now that war was inevitable, the only question that remained was when would it start? That all depended on how fast the Cornerians could figure them out or if the mission was successful.

Relics groaned and got off the ground, a little sore where he got nailed in the back of the head by the butt of the woman's gun. From what he could tell from the twenty seconds he saw her, he knew she was enhanced and the suit she was wearing must have had a few bodily enhancing qualities on top of the personal stealth cloak.

The sore human stumbled to the end stall and found that she wasn't lying. There was a small case with his own suit that he quickly put on under his civilian clothes. He thanked God that it didn't show and prayed it wouldn't throw up any signals that the Cornerians could pick up on. Knowing how crucial this mission was however, he felt confidence that they spared no luxury in his suit.

The suit fit him like a glove and the hydraulic joints would amplify his strength when activated. Relics' guess was that it was the Body Enhancer-6B and if he was right it should have a stealth capability along with a thermal dampener to make it harder to locate him. The hydraulic joints would give him an extra boost but he'd have to careful with them because they had a chance of breaking his bones if he didn't use them correctly. He tried to activate the stealth generator but wound up disappointed.

The human moved to leave but caught his reflection in the mirror. He stepped up to the mirror to look at himself.

'_She could get hurt if you do this.'_ Relics told himself while trying to stare himself down. _'They could all get hurt. If you go through with this, everyone who dies will be your all fault. Their blood will be on your hands, and dad still won't be back. Is this what you really-"_

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when his fist slammed into the mirror, leaving a large web across it.

"I don't care if they all die, there's no going back now." Relics told himself as his lies had finally caught up to him.

When he got back, Melina seemed a little bit surprised to see him. "Relics? You feel okay?"

Relics cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. I need to go though, sorry. I'll talk to you later."

Without another word or possible explanation, Relics left the disappointed avian alone at the café.

~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics laid in bed waiting for the right moment to leave. Jason and Chloe had just gone to bed so odds where they were still on foreplay. He wished Jason the best of luck so that he and Chloe could finally conceive.

As awkward and gross it was, Relics was listening intently for the bed to groan and when it did he quickly moved to his window and tossed his wrist com on his bed before jumping out the window. He landed on the hard pavement two stories below but the hydraulics absorbed all the shock so to him, it was less than taking a step down some stairs.

Before he ran off, he took one look back up to his room's window and wondered if he was doing the right thing. On one hand he was assuring his people a crippling strategic advantage over the Cornerians, whereas he was condemning thousands of people to death, perhaps millions. His thoughts turned to Lana and he asked himself if he was willing to lose her.

'_I'm sure she'll be fine. Her parents will get her off world and they'll ride it out on Zoness.'_ Relics told himself as if his guilt would leave him alone. _'I should have called her; this could be my last night here. She deserves a goodbye… she deserves better than me.'_ He realized.

He sighed and covered his face with his hood. If all went to plan, the war would be over in a few weeks, the Cornerians would surrender and give a couple of colonies as tokens of their submission, and the human populous would be content enough to live and let live from there on out. God willing, not much death would become of it.

~X~X~X~X~X~

"Do you like that?" Chloe asked but started purring when Jason groaned with ecstasy.

"Oh yeah hon, it feels great. I love you Chloe- oh God damn it!" Jason growled when his phone went off. Ever since that day Relics called them in the middle of business, Jason switched over to a non-holographic supporting phone that wouldn't show him and his wife doing the do.

Chloe groaned and got off her knees. "What does he want this time? I swear, we'd have a baby on the way if he didn't call so damn much for updates and whatever."

"Tell me about it, but the General gets what the General wants." Jason sighed.

"What about what I want?" Chloe pouted.

"And what would that be?" Jason asked picking up his phone.

Chloe laid down on the bed and sprawled out to show off her body in the moonlight. "You, on this bed, on me."

Jason smirked but answered the call anyways. "Good evening General, this is Jason Mahoney."

"Jason! I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done three weeks ago. Our sources haven't been able to pinpoint who hired the killers, but they were among the best. A group called the Seven Blades was behind the attempt and they've killed more people then we can keep record of. You did very well taking two of them out." The hound dog praised making Jason feel a little better for not entertaining his wife.

"Thank you General."

"There is a party tonight that I would like you to attend. It's at the city hall, and I need you to represent the Cornerian military, maybe persuade them to be more generous with the defense budget."

Jason rolled his eyes but couldn't refuse a request from a general. "I'll be there in thirty minutes General."

"Good to hear, Lance Corporal, or should I say Corporal now?"

Jason grinned to himself and Chloe let out a cute little yay. "Thank you sir."

"Indeed. See you in a half an hour." The General said and cut the line.

Jason put the phone down and looked to his beaming wife. He opened his muzzle but she put a finger to his lips and he stopped.

"We only have a few minutes, tonight is for you." Chloe said as she kissed him and worked her way down his body.

~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics climbed up the escape ladder of the apartment complex he had ran to. When he got up to the roof he stopped to catch his breath but as he did he surveyed his surroundings. The city was always awake, but at night the lights were dimmed as Cornerians proffered dimmer nights. The flying cars overhead took no notice of him and the people on the streets didn't either.

His target rested just a short three blocks away and as he watched it, trying to find some way in he was attacked from behind. This time, he was more alert.

His attacker kicked out his legs making him fall to his knees, but he retaliated with an elbow to the crotch. His attacker grunted but it didn't faze him too bad as he lifted the human up and threatened to crush him in his arms. Relics grunted but kicked the attack in the face, freeing him from the bigger man's grasp.

"That's enough!" A collective voice announced making Relics shiver. "Looks like you haven't lost all of you skills after all."

"As if." Relics grunted and turned around to see his three man backup.

His attacker was a beast of a man with arms that certainly looked big enough to lift him up and crush him. The female of the group of the three was the same woman that attacked him in the café earlier and upon closer inspection she was kind of cute. The final member was a man that was about Relics' height but looked older and had hair that was high and tight. The three all had white hair and silver eyes just like Relics which made them all dangerous even to him.

"Sharp." Relics said with a hint of disdain that the man picked up almost instantly.

Out of the entire human population, only two thirds could be genetically enhanced but they could only get enhancements like better immune systems, metabolisms and stronger internal organs. A fourth of that number were compatible with more advanced enhancements (but could only handle one or two and still live through the process) like faster reflexes and enhanced senses. But a small number ranging between twelve thousand to twenty thousand were as enhanced as Relics who had enhanced hearing and reflexes, could see things three times faster and thus predict the motion of an object or person, and of course his supernatural speed. Enhancements were made into four classes, a normal human was a one, enhanced human was two, advanced enhancements was three, and then there was the Helios level.

The Helios program was the original intent for every single human, man woman and child. Helios was intended to be the next step in human evolution, this one controllable and far faster than time and Darwin. As the research went on it turned out that only a select few were able to survive the genetic mutation and still remain human. If a person who was incompatible with the changes received them, it would be a fate worse than death.

Helios was supposed to be the grandeur of genetic enhancement, but as always, the power of human ingenuity refuses to accept limits. Sharp wasn't born, but made. His genetic makeup was made in such a way that it would be easy to make changes when normally it was a difficult task. To put it simply, Sharp's DNA was written with blanks and pointless plots so that when he matures, a new writing staff could come in and fill the blanks and enrich the pointless plots. So in the end they made him even better than the Helios project could have hoped, far superior to Relics.

Sharp had all of Relics' strengths, none of his weaknesses, and a few more enhancements that Relics did not know about. When Relics was administered to the Helios project and remade, Sharp was his assigned training partner. They pitted him against Sharp in an effort to make him adjust faster and better to his enhancements. Unfortunately, Relics' enhancements were too much for him to handle as previously believed which is why Relics had defects to his powers unlike Sharp. Sharp took advantage of those defects and made the younger human suffer for it.

"Fox, not happy to see me? Your arm healed nicely so I can't see why not." Sharp bit back making the other two smirk.

"Oh I am, I'm just surprised they let their favorite pet off the leash is all." Relics snapped and felt a twinge of pain in his right arm where Sharp had broken it in two places.

"Watch your mouth kid. Don't forget, you're expendable in this mission, I'd have no problems leaving you behind." Sharp growled and chucked a helmet at Relics before putting on his own.

'_Asshole.'_ Relics thought as he barely managed to catch the helmet before it would have smashed into his face like a baseball thrown in the majors.

Relics ground his teeth together a bit before asking. "So what's the plan?"

"Well since you're worse than useless with that fruity collar around your neck, you'll be giving us cover fire while Cain, Miranda and I. Don't fuck this up." Sharp scowled and lobbed a compacted rifle at the teen. Relics caught it in the air just as Miranda and Cain disappeared from the naked eye. "Set up on that building parallel with the hall. When we make our move you start shooting anything that will get in our way of the General."

Sharp walked off and he too disappeared. Relics bit his lip but felt a warm wetness touch them.

"Good luck handsome." Miranda whispered in his ear like a ghost.

"Uh… yeah, you too." Relics said as the invisible temptress took off after her squad mates.

'_Forget Sharp, it's her I need to look out for.'_ Relics thought to himself but he knew that was mere wishful thinking. If Sharp wanted to, he could kill all three of them without breaking a sweat.

The assassin attached the compacted rifle to the latches on his back before running into the shadows. He knew this was wrong, he knew he was doing evil, but he'd already lost his chance to back out now. If he didn't do this, he wouldn't be allowed back home and Sharp would probably kill him. The best he could do now was limit the casualties. With his helmet concealing his identity with its blackened out visor, Relics found the advantage point and fixed the scope on the city hall.

Security was tight but he could see his team mates through the scope and saw that they weren't having any troubles getting by. The main hall was at least four stories high and the walls had magnificent windows that pronounced their regality. As Relics spied through them, he took into account just how many party goers there were, roughly a hundred not including the thirty some odd guards stationed all around.

'_No sign of the target, maybe he's not coming? Oh wow, look at the pair on that… minx!'_ Relics gapped when he realized that the pair he was gawking at belonged to someone he knew.

'_LANA!'_

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ U mad?**_


	29. Seppuku

Her white teeth flashed in the manufactured lights as she gave off another fake smile. To everyone around her, she looked like she was having a good time talking to everyone who wanted to meet the Tress' daughter and Tress Tech's future heir. To be honest, she hated it and every one of the greedy, brown nosing old men who were not so shy as to break a few child protection laws if they could get away with it. She could just tell by the looks in their eyes, a sinister and selfish look that her minx intuition caught immediately.

'_Maybe that's why I like him so much? I don't see that look in his eyes.'_ Lana thought to herself as she shook the hand of yet another old bureaucrat that snuck more than one look at her breasts.

When they had all finally satisfied themselves with their pleasantries and left her alone, Lana quickly walked over to the waiter carrying a tray of drinks and she took one for each hand. She quickly threw one back and then the next.

"Well, well, well, I can see you're quite the party animal. No wonder he likes you." Another man's voice said and that was the last thing she wanted right now, another guy talking to her that wasn't Relics.

Lana turned around with a forced smile but it quickly turned to genuine when she realized that this man was Relics' foster parent/bodyguard.

"Mr. Mahoney!" Lana said and beamed brightly at him.

"Surprised?" Jason asked and shook her hand like a gentleman and not like he was trying to molest her hand like a perverted old man did earlier.

"A little, I didn't expect to see anyone I knew here." Lana giggled but then it hit her. "Is Relics here with you?" She asked as her tail twitched joyfully and her ears perked up.

"No, I didn't want him to have to deal with these people." Jason said in undertone which was a disappointment to the minx. "No one with half brain should have to deal with these people. All they care about is money."

"Among other things." Lana huffed as she could feel a score of eyes observing her body despite the fact that they'd do some time if they were caught.

Jason looked around and could see what she meant. "Well, beautiful people like us will always be sought after by the inferior." The canine growled sarcastically making the minx purr. "Speaking of Relics, did you know you're all he talks about lately?"

Lana started to go pink around the cheeks and muzzle. "Really? W-What does he say about me?"

Jason smirked. "Oh lots of stuff, things that should go into romantic novels mostly. Either that or some wickedly bad fan-fiction."

Lana rolled her eyes. "What _does_ he say?"

"Oh, just how you're the prettiest girl in the Lylat and that he's absolutely crazy about you." Jason chuckled and watched the minx burn even redder. "You know, if you just made a move…"

"No. I couldn't!" Lana squealed quietly so not to raise a scene. "What if he says no? What would my parents think?"

Jason nodded slowly. "Maybe, but Relics could never say no to the deal of his life. As for your parents, what do they think of him now after he wound up as a splattered mess all over the pavement trying to save a little kid?"

Lana sighed and looked over at her parents who were in the middle of talking to some businessmen, no doubt for contracts and funding for their company. The Phoenix's were there too but Fara somehow managed to weasel her way out of tonight's party. No doubt because she'd eat all the hors d'oeuvres… like last time.

'_How she hasn't gained an ounce since freshman year is beside me.'_ Lana thought a bit jealously since if she so much as had a slice of cake she could feel her buns and thighs shake until she ran a mile and a half.

"They've come around a bit. I caught them talking about inviting him over to dinner soon. Dad was resisting but mom was bringing up a couple of points that he couldn't argue against." Lana shrugged. "Like how having a daughter dating a human would be good for business, and how they might get him to do a promotion or two."

"Is that all they care about? Their business?" Jason asked as he saw Lana was not in the least bit happy with her parents at the moment.

"It can sure feel that way sometimes, but I know they care about me a lot. I just wish they'd be around more often." Lana admitted. "Spending time with Relics really helps, he knows what I'm going through not having anyone around… that was wrong to say. He has it much worse than I do." Lana said trying to retract herself when she realized how selfish it was to compare her suffering to Relics'.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure he feels the same way." Jason reassured. "I don't know if you've noticed but he's something special and I know from just talking to you that you two could make it all the way."

Lana's ears perked up again and she smiled. "Really? Even if he's a human and I'm not?"

"I honestly don't think he cares anymore. Haven't you noticed how much he's changed over the last few weeks? He's like an entirely new person. When we first met, I was sure I was going to have to put a laser between his eyes, now I honestly can't see life without him. Living with him has been a great couple of weeks, I'll tell you what." Jason sighed as he remembered how much trouble they managed to get into and how little of it that Chloe knew about so far.

"I'm glad to hear that." Lana said feeling a tingling sensation run up her tail and to her heart. Jason had put so much into perspective in the last ten minutes then a month's worth of speculation with her friends could have. Relics really liked her as was obvious to see, but now truly confirmed. Maybe things could work out between them after all?

~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics tore his eyes from two of the people he cared most about and answered the radio call. "I'm here, what is it?"

"Six four, do you have the target in your sights?" Sharp scowled.

The human shook Lana and Jason from his mind and searched the party for the intended recipient of a hole in the head. He scanned the entire party but couldn't find a trace of the target.

"No Sharp, maybe you can point me in the right direction instead of letting me play find Waldo in this cluster-fuck of an alien frat party with suits." Relics growled as his scope came back to Lana and Jason. They were talking to a vulpine and panther that Relics immediately recognized as Lana's parents.

"No sign of him yet from our end." Sharp replied with as much attitude Relics was throwing him.

'_Then how the fuck am I supposed to find him? Like, forty percent of the party is blocked from my sights. Dumbass.'_

"I'll keep looking." Relics lied as his sights kept solely focused on Lana and Jason who were chatting it up.

To say he was a little jealous was an understatement. Relics was growling in his throat like a dog with a bone and his finger was inching towards the trigger while his sights rested on Jason's head.

'_You gonna kiss her? I don't think so buddy, she's mine, she's my girl. Do you stay up tossing and turning thinking of her and how special she is to you? NO! BECAUSE YOU DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HER! YOU BACK OFF BEFORE YOU CATCH ONE WITH YOUR SKULL! Where that came from I _do not know._ Oh, that's where.'_ Relics thought with a purely venomous intent to kill as he watched Jason whisper something to Lana making her blush and giggle.

'_Just touch her… go ahead and touch her. Make. My. Da- ARGH!'_

"Six four we've located the target! Target is moving towards the center of the party. Do you have eyes on him?" Sharp hissed over the radio right into Relics' ear.

"What? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm," Relics stammered as he moved the sight from Lana's breasts, "I'm on it."

The party seemed to be going well, it was a shame it was about to get crashed. Relics' keen eyes scanned the crowd but couldn't see what Sharp was talking about. He searched high and low until he became frustrated and easily gave up. His sights came back to Lana only to find the target standing with her.

'_God damn it you bastard old hound dog! Get away from her.'_ Relics growled as he tried to get a clean shot of the General that wouldn't put Lana or Jason in the line of fire. Lana and the General were both talking freely, like he wasn't one of the most important men in the Lylat. She had guts and confidence, but that was now putting her in harm's way. If he didn't take the shot, Sharp or one of the other two would.

"Six four here, I can't get a clean shot." Relics reported to the agitated growl of Sharp.

"Who cares about extra casualties? This isn't home; kill anyone and everyone that gets in the way."

His guts churned as they began to acidify. It physically hurt him to think about killing Lana and Jason. The more his sights were on Lana and Jason with an intent to kill, the more he felt like he was going to be sick and throw up his insides out (only now that Jason wasn't "making moves" on his girl).

He watched General Pepper like a hawk waiting for a split second that he wouldn't be lined up with either person he cared about. If he sneezed, if he checked behind his shoulder, if he so much as threw up his head and laughed it was over, but he didn't. It almost felt like he knew, but that was impossible. If he knew Relics was going to be killing him tonight he'd have had him arrested and most likely executed.

"I've got a clear line, I'm going in." Miranda whispered excitedly. "Take out the guards for me hon."

Immediately Relics felt some relief and focused on the guards standing watch all around the party. They were nameless faces that he didn't know; that would lessen the blow of killing.

"Almost there." Miranda giggled with pleasure as she no doubt would take excessive pride in killing Earth's most dangerous enemy. "Alright, I'm-"

Miranda was suddenly cut off as a loud uproar shook the party. The grand windows exploded and rained down glass on the party as swarms of armored soldiers spilled in. They immediately began firing into the crowd towards the General's position. Many partygoers were caught in the cross fire and the bodies began to pile up. The attackers weren't deliberately aiming for them, but neither were they shunning their sights from them. It was clear in a manner of seconds that they were indeed aiming for the General, and they'd soon succeed. What was once a nice party and smooth operation had suddenly gone to shit.

"God damn it. Who the fuck are these clowns?" Sharp shouted as gunshots could be heard on his side. "Abort the mission, Miranda, Cain, six four, pull out now. They're sure to send reinforcements any second now."

Relics made just a twitch to get up but he stopped when he heard a woman scream in pain and agony. His spit turned bitter and knew he couldn't leave, not while Lana was still down there in mortal danger. Relics hunted for her and found that she and Jason were all pinned down with multiple squads closing in. Jason was trying his damnedest to hold them off but he was only one man with a pistol against fully automatic laser guns. All the reinforcements were MIA and Relics figured they were KIA.

Most of the unscathed partygoers had fled the city hall, including the General who was escorted by the remains of his personal guard, and were spilling into the streets so that cleared up the field. Relics spotted his first target, a crazed man running straight at Lana's position behind some thrown over tables. He hesitated for a second as he realized this would be his first ever kill. Still a virgin to murder, he was as nervous as he was afraid of the toll it would take on him to kill.

The man was hauling ass after the General but he spotted the terrified minx. He lifted his gun to her; that was all the motivation Relics needed. With one muscle's twitch the assailant went down with a hole through his chest. The one hole did not stop him and he tried to get up until another pierced his head. Relics shivered with a morbid awareness creeping into his psyche that he killed a person but he was quick to suppress and ignore it. He had to protect Lana; his heart would not be able to bear the burden of the death of someone he loved so soon.

'_Line 'em up…'_ Relics thought as he focused on a rather trigger happy gecko. He squeezed the trigger and got the lizard right in the stomach taking him down but not killing him, instantly at least.

The unwelcomed guests soon realized there was a sniper and they went for cover, but one unfortunate newt wasn't fast enough as Relics shot his leg out from under him, severing it from the knee down. Cornerian technology was something else though; they could replace or return the leg back to its rightful spot, that is, _if_ he didn't bleed out by the time they got him to a hospital.

Jason also took notice of the sniper and realized this was his chance to get everyone out who was unable to escape. He looked to Lana and barked. "Wait here! When I give the signal, get the Hell out of here!"

Lana looked to Jason and nodded smartly and covered her ears as more lasers shot overhead. The canine growled and rushed to a better advantage point but he fell back when a charged shot nearly took off his muzzle. Growling like a monster, Jason pointed his modified blaster at the attacker and let two fly at his target nearly a two hundred feet away. Both were hits and although they only hit the leg and arm, the first shot's charge was more than enough to kill.

Relics saw the accuracy and lethality of the gun and nearly flipped. He thought Jason's gun was some flimsy Cornerian blaster with no merit, and yet it could kill a man just by a flesh wound.

'_Looks like he's not just my protector, but also my would be executioner.'_ Relics thought darkly and took out a vermin that was about to take a shot at his guardian.

Jason ran full sprint to the flank of the pinned down attackers. Hardly a soul dared peek out from cover until the sniper was located. The sniper wasn't the biggest threat as they had completely ignored the highly trained soldier who had snuck around them and caught them exposed.

The German Sheppard took aim and began mowing down the two dozen assassins. With only his supercharged blaster in hand, there was no way he would be able to take all twenty four of them out without getting shot back at. By the time he took five out they had all turned towards him and started firing back. Jason quickly ducked behind a marble pillar and was pinned down by a torrent blaze of lasers and bullets.

"LANA NOW!" Jason roared over the battle. The minx immediately did as she had been told and ran for the exit. Not a single shot flew within twenty feet of her or the others as they made their escape.

Relics licked his lips and had a multitude of targets to choose from now as everyone abandoned their cover to move to a new one out of the crosshairs of Jason. Only too late did they realize they ran straight into Relics'. One by one they fell to the precise aim of the perched sharpshooter. The assailents soon fell into chaos as they could not find cover that would shield them from the sniper _and_ the Cornerian Soldier. As the scrambled for a place to hide, Jason popped right back out and began hammering away at their numbers. They predators had suddenly become the prey and it was a slaughter. They did not discriminate, they only executed those stupid enough not to throw down their arms and lay on the ground. Finally when the last combatant fell and the prisoners were secured, the fight was over.

The human took one last look around to make sure Jason was no longer in danger. When he was satisfied, he let out a sigh of relief. Relics began to compact his rifle just before the reinforcements arrived. This was his last chance to get away as the Cornerians would have the area locked down within a mile's radius. Relics turned to leave and make his escape through the shadows but the Cornerian Army had other ideas. He hadn't even taken two steps before lights shined down on him. The visor dimmed his vision to compensate for the brightness but Relics had to cover his eyes from the harsh glare of a dozen lights.

"Get down on the ground!" A voice ordered in Cornerian from one of the Arwings.

'_Oops, I seem to have forgotten my translator. One sec, let me go run home and grab it.'_ Relics thought before running full sprint the opposite direction.

The hovering Cornerian Arwings moved to cover the ladder well down into the building, but Relics had a rather unconventional exit he was about to utilize. Without hesitating, Relics sprinted right off the ten story building, spreading his arms to balance himself in air. Luckily a passing by hover car broke his fall as he had no idea just how much shock the hydraulics could take.

Relics grunted as he struggled to hold on to the car travelling several feet above ground. Before he could get a hold of something, the soccer mom driving her kits home from a game shrieked and turned sharply, throwing him from the car.

'_Fuck, this isn't good.'_ Relics thought as the ground came screaming at him.

Just before he was about to become a splattered mess all over the pavement (again), Relics managed to flip himself around and landed on his hands and knees with a grace like a cat. The hydraulics in his suit was only able to absorb so much and Relics' legs buckled under the remaining blow. He forced himself to get up and run and the Arwings were hot on his tail.

Relics wasn't stupid though, he knew he wasn't going to be able to outrun one of the most sophisticated fighters in the galaxy so he would have to use his craft. Using the crowds to his advantage, Relics ducked and weaved through him, sometimes throwing them off for a second but with everyone looking at the strange fully armored man; it wasn't long before he was picked out again.

The Arwings would never risk blowing him and the civilians away so Relics was safe amongst them for now. But as the chase went on, ground troops would enter the chase and that would make his escape nigh on impossible. Realizing this, Relics ducked down an alleyway and started running through the cracks of the city but the Arwings weren't going to fall for that.

The human was starting to tire as the chase went on. He had to do something fast or else risk capture which would be disastrous for the mission and his wellbeing. Luckily he came to a bout of sharp turns that he used to his advantage and finally managed to throw his pursuers off the scent. When he was sure they were gone, Relics leaned up against the metal wall of the massive skyscraper, and fought for his breath. All in all, he must have sprinted a good two or three miles before he finally got to slow down.

For a split second Relics almost pulled up the com to radio Sharp but the Cornerians probably had all the networks and frequencies locked down. He was on his own but if he thought about it, he'd been on his own the entire time he'd been on Corneria.

Using the shadows to his advantage, Relics began creeping through the depths of the city, staying out of sight from the birds in the sky. He had managed to get six blocks before he came across his first ground squad. Civilians were being identified with a blue laser that flattened out and ran up and down their bodies. If they were suspected they were taken in for questioning but it wasn't a witch hunt as they had several robots back on base reviewing camera footage and helped pinpoint people of interest.

Relics ducked behind a rounded dumpster and waited for the armed squad to walk by. The smell was nearly unbearable but his nose managed to handle the rank scent long enough for them to pass by. Relics then ran across the street behind them and to the next dark alleyway. No one saw him fortunately and he continued his trek back home. He had no idea where he was supposed to meet his accomplices so back home was his best bet.

He was nearing the outskirts of the city after an hour long game of cat and mouse. He ran like a triathlete but was sure to keep himself always in the shadows. So many times he came close to exposure and capture but fate seemed to be on his side tonight.

'_Just thirty more blocks and I'm home free.'_ Relics told himself in an effort to keep himself going. He was starting to get really tired and very thirsty but he could not stop. Pain was a luxury and life was a requirement. If he stopped now he'd be risking death.

'_Just twenty nine now, just twenty-'_

"SHIT!" Relics hissed when his lucky streak had come to an end. Once again scores of lights floated above him blinding him momentarily, everyone swearing and cussing in Cornerian for him to get down on the ground.

Not being one who was willing to die at the moment, Relics took off down the center of the deserted street. The Arwings gave chase and their modified guns began firing at him, shooting a hot blue liquid that sparkled and gave off small sparks. Each blob was as big as a basketball and Relics could already tell that getting hit by one would ruin his day so he forced his exhausted body to move even though it had already run a good ten miles tonight.

'_I can't keep this up.'_ Relics told himself as his body struggled to keep the pace and dodge the blue gunk at the same time. _'Have to… find somewhere… I can hide… there!'_

The human suddenly made a sharp ninety degree turn and veered right to the wide open apartment complex. As he ran by the frozen civilian, he thanked him for holding the door even though he was just too overwhelmed by seeing a lone vagabond running from nearly a dozen Arwings that were shooting at him.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Jason glared at the asphalt before taking a swig of his water. He wasn't even thirsty, just wanted to wash the nasty taste out of his mouth. He had been detained for a good hour now as his superiors tried to sort this mess out. There was no word who it was that attacked tonight, and Jason had yet to see the sniper that no doubt saved his life tonight. He wanted to shake his hand and thank him but there would be time enough for that later.

A commander came by to commend him and started talking about medals and letters of recommendation, Hell, if things kept going the way they were he'd be an officer before his second term.

'_All I'd have to do is save Corneria once or twice. Shit, I've already saved Relics _and_ the General.'_ Jason thought with an attempt at humor but he wasn't really in the mood. He killed twelve people tonight; twelve lives were now bloodying his hands. The canine didn't regret killing them, it was his job as a soldier and he had to protect everyone. What was getting to him was how easily he did it. There was no hesitation, he just aimed, pulled the trigger and repeated until everyone was taken care of.

They took four into custody and one to the hospital but he was losing a lot of blood from his missing leg, the medics were doubtful he'd make it. Aside from Jason's twelve, another twelve laid dead thanks to the sniper. All in all, nine "good" people died and a good twenty were wounded. Could have been worse but it damn sure could have been better. Security needed to be tighter and a lot less dependent on reacting to a threat; there shouldn't _be_ any chance of a threat.

A pair of footsteps alerted Jason of company and so he stood up before chucking his water bottle into the public trash bin fifteen feet away.

"Mahoney." A grim looking vulpine grunted.

Jason was a bit caught off guard to see his mentor here but it figured since he was hired to assist the General in protecting himself and the human. The canine grunted and shook the orange fox's hand.

"McCloud."

James looked around at the mess of authorities and paramedics. "Your mess?"

Jason nodded his head over to the body bags. "They are."

The fox nodded slowly. "You would have made a great addition to the team."

"Too bad I hate flying." Jason commented. "What the General call you in for?"

James chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Always quick to business. Alright then." The vulpine grunted and motioned for the canine to follow. "As good as you are Mahoney; you didn't take out twenty four people, arrest four, and mortally wound another. You had help from a gunman but he's unaccounted for. It's our job to go find him, dead or alive."

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics panted heavily as he ran up the seemingly never ending flight of stairs. He wished he could wipe the sweat off his forehead so it would stop dripping into his eyes, but taking off his helmet would expose him. Around the thirty second flight, Relics stopped and rested on the stairs, catching his breath with deep breaths. He only just managed to get a minute's rest in before a loud crash resounded downstairs. Relics looked over the edge of the railing to see dozens of black armored SWAT came charging up the stairs and in just twenty seconds reached the sixth flight.

"FUCK!" Relics gasped and forced his resentful body forward.

His feet carried him up six more flights before they were only four away. The human stumbled on a stair and barely avoided a blob of electric blob from the Cornerian's assault rifle. Relics hit the deck just before half of the team lit him up while the other half continued up the stairs. He felt a sharp shock and pain run down his leg making it go numb. He screamed and started to belly crawl up the last of the stairs before he reached the next floor. Once there, he darted up and ran into the hallway to escape the attack. He had to hobble through the hallway as the feeling in his right leg had disappeared.

The hallway was deserted and every door he tried was locked. Desperation filled the human's veins and his heavy breathing became quick and thin as he scrambled to find a door. His body flushed cold and he was almost on the verge of losing it.

"I'll be right back sweetie; I'm just going to go get some…" A snow leopard said while looking over her shoulder but then she looked forward and saw the armored man standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at her. She slowly took a step back but screamed when the man came barreling at her.

'_Oh my God, shut the fuck up!'_ Relics thought as he grabbed her and hauled her back into her apartment. She screamed and fought against him but Relics threw her into the corner before she could wiggle free.

"Mommy?" A small snow leopard kit mewed.

Relics looked over to the kit he didn't understand and stomped over to him.

"NO! DON'T HURT HIM!" The mother cried as her eyes instantly flooded with helpless tears.

The kid tried to run but Relics grabbed his arm and drug him over to the corner his mother was in and pushed him over to her. Her arms instantaneously wrapped around her young. She looked up to the trespasser and he held out his hand to them.

'_Stay… stay.'_ He thought hoping they'd obey and not get involved any more than they already were.

A large thud came from the front door and a loud voice shouting orders from the other side. Relics smirked and pushed the living room couch in front of the door before running to the kitchen and went out through the window to the fire escape. He ran down the stairs just as they busted through the door making the family scream but he didn't hear screams of pain despite the multiple shots fired which was a relief.

He ran down the stairs two and sometimes three at a time, holding on to the guard railing to make sure he didn't fall or roll his ankle. A passing by light shined by and he pressed his body against the wall. It must have worked because the Arwing passed right on by and back to its patrol.

The last twenty levels went by unchallenged and he quickly darted through the complex alleyways of Corneria city. He made it another two blocks but would have been so much further along if it weren't for his leg witch was starting to twitch and through his equilibrium off thus making him stumble every so often.

'_Fucking leg!'_ Relics thought and punched his bad leg to try to kick start it but of course that didn't work. Groaning from the numbness and tingling sensation, Relics kept at it, only twenty seven blocks from home.

Once he reached twenty six his leg started to come back to him and he set off in a sprint home. He rounded twenty-fifth before coming to a screeching halt. If he'd taken one more step he'd have fallen off a two hundred foot drop.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Relics exclaimed as he looked down to the depths of the city. Apparently he was on one of Corneria's elevated building plateaus that gave greater surface area to the city and was all supported by the architectural marvel skyscrapers that the Cornerians had built.

He didn't look too far and saw that a walkway was within reach, but it was guarded and there was no way he was going to get through without a fight. The human licked his dry lips.

"Alright then, have it your way." Relics said to himself before heading towards the barricaded roadblock.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"Sir! We've found him!"

James and Jason quickly moved to where the SWAT member was pointing and they both growled.

"How the fuck did he make it past your perimeter?" James snapped.

"S-Sir, we didn't have time to-"

"Shut up. Let's just get down there before we lose him, _again._" Jason interrupted and jumped out the fire escape to give chase to the Sniper that was only three blocks away and heading to a twenty foot wide walkway with only eight guards stationed. James was quick to follow while half the SWAT team followed him and the other made for the stairs so not to overwhelm the fire escape.

"I can see now why the General called you in. Everyone else is too incompetent." Jason growled as he jumped down the stairs, his tattering uniform fluttering in the wind, his cover long gone.

James smirked to himself as he had to silently agree with him. This wasn't the first time the Army or local police force botched the job and he was called in. He missed a couple kids' birthdays because of it.

"Jason, set your blaster for half power, I don't want you frying him with that hand cannon of yours. We _want_ to try to bring him in alive. If he starts shooting, then by all means." James told the German Sheppard just as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Sixty percent won't kill him." Jason said but instead put it to sixty four. "He'll have a problem walking straight for a week or two though."

James rolled his green eyes as he and Jason sprinted ahead of the slower SWAT members. When they got within two blocks they slowed down because of what they saw.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Their backs were turned so now was the best shot he had. Relics rushed the barricade and let out a loud battle cry just as he came within jumping distance. He leapt up into the air and kicked the first of them with both legs, sending him reeling back and to the ground coughing and sputtering as he now had a few broken ribs thanks to Relics' suit giving an extra boost to the hit.

The guards were in shock for a second which gave Relics yet another opening. The closest guard was kicked in the shin, his assault rifle ripped from his hands and the butt of it went right into his bird face. A guard to his left aimed for him but Relics was faster but didn't aim before he fired but thanks to the takedown effect, the two wild shots that nicked his calf sent him down to the ground. In front of Relics a guard had pulled out his gun but the human was too fast and spun towards the shooter and grabbed his firing arm.

Relics tilted him towards one of his comrades and out of surprise the man shot, taking his friend down in the process. The human let grabbed the gun with his right hand and smashed his left elbow into the guard's face. As the man fell, Relics quickly turned the two guns on the two groups on both his sides. Before they could aim their scopes down, Relics fired both guns at them, hitting his marks with both the pistol and rifle.

They all fell screaming in pain as the energized goo shocked and immobilized them. Relics sighed and threw the rifle away but kept the pistol. His way was clear but then something jumped up and bit him.

'_Something… BIT ME!'_ Relics thought as he let out a loud cry of pain. He tripped and rolled along the ground but did not stay down for long. He writhed to his feet despite how hard it was to even feel his body moving. That last shock hurt way worse than the one in the apartments and it was making his HUD static a bit but it still worked.

Pointing his gun at the source, Relics shot back at the legion of SWAT and the two Army looking types leading. His hand eye coordination was still recovering though and his shots went wild but it gave his pursuers something to think about since they all took cover before returning fire.

"FUCK!" Relics shouted and ducked behind a concrete barrier; the environment around him was painted blue in a matter of seconds. Some of the gelatin managed its way over the barrier and gently sprayed him, making the human scream as the goo shocked his chest and arms. His loud screams were overlapped by the bridge being destroyed near the other side creating only the small part that remained. There was no way he'd be able to clear that jump, especially not with a whole SWAT division licking at his heels.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" A familiar voice but incomprehensible tongue shouted. Immediately the Hellfire stopped and Relics thanked the Gods for the respite.

"You have nowhere to go! Come out now or we'll take you by force!" James shouted to the sniper but he might as well have said everything backwards because Relics did not understand a single word he said.

"You won't like the hard way, guy. The hard way includes me shooting you with a hundred percent, not sixty!" Jason shouted despite the fact he owed the Sniper his life. Regardless, he was a soldier first and if ordered, he'd kill his savior.

'_Jason!'_ Relics realized and felt a large cold hole formed in his stomach. Why did it have to be him? If he was captured now by him, Relics just couldn't bear to think of what he'd say. The human had betrayed his trust and tried to start a war with his people, there was no justifying any of that.

There was no other option. Either he jumped and plummeted to his death, or pulled out his sniper and blew his brains out all over the metal walkway and concrete barricade. Surrender was the only path out of this alive. A small tear escaped Relics' eye as he thought of how he got here. If only he'd obeyed Sharp's order and left when he should have, but to have done that left Lana and Jason caught in a firefight.

'_Oh God, Lana! What will she think?'_ Relics despaired. _'I'm like a hero to her, and yet here I am now about to be taken into custody by half the Cornerian Army. God damn it!'_

Relics threw out the pistol from over the barricade. He lifted his hands up and slowly got out from round the barricade with his hands in the air. He let out a sigh as the two leaders slowly converged on him, not taking their sights off his skull for a split second.

"Smart move, guy." Jason growled as he and James came closer and closer.

'_Fuck, fuck, FUCK!'_ Relics thought as his foster father and best friend's father came closer and closer. If it were anyone else he wouldn't feel so terrible but it had to be the two people he respected most as men. He felt so terrible that it literally made him sick to his stomach. Despair overtook the human and he nearly broke down crying.

"Jump." A little voice spoke in the back of Relics' head.

'_Jump.'_ Relics resounded before lowering his hands.

"Whoa there, hey! Step away from the ledge!" James said as Relics took a step back and then another and another until he was teetering on the brink. He lowered his arms and looked at the two men for a second before whispering.

"I'm sorry."

"NO!" Jason shouted and tried to catch him in time but he was too far away. The sniper fell over backwards, seemingly so at ease with dying.

Jason's shouts became quieter and quieter as the wind drowned him out. The fear of falling was overtaken by the shame he felt. He wasn't strong enough to face him like a man and was now taking the coward's way out. Relics sighed as he picked up rushing faster and faster towards the ground. Death was his only reward for the lies he'd spun and the love he'd thrown away.

As he fell, his thoughts turned to those he was now leaving behind. Jason and how much he was starting to revere him like a father, Chloe who gave him the greatest gift he'd ever received, Fox who took him under his wing day one, Fara who always brightened up his day, Bill who was annoying at times but always a blast to be around, and Lana….

Lana was the person he cherished the most. Her mere presence made his blood warm and his heart quicken. For her he was willing to risk his life, for her he was willing to die for, for her he maybe would have betrayed his own kind. Something about her made him so compelled to her from the start from the moment their silver and ruby eyes locked. She held such an enchantment over him that it was hard to describe. But describe it he could, accept it was something else. Yet as the ground came spiraling towards him, the reality of it all finally sank in. The truth came out and he was unashamed.

"I love her." He said before he came to a final stop.


	30. Mutual Feelings

Jason growled in his throat as he watched the sniper plummet to his death. He was swallowed by the dark void dozens of feet below. There was no reason for his death, all they needed was every little bit of information he had about tonight and maybe they'd have worked out a shorter term of his incarceration or even his release. The canine cussed under his breath before punching the metal floor, bruising his knuckles.

"Take it easy Mahoney; you did the best you could." James muttered to the canine on his stomach from when he tried to catch the runaway.

The German Sheppard stood up and cussed once more before turning to the SWAT team captain. "Send a team to retrieve the body."

"Aye sir." The captain grunted. "Should we radio the General?"

Jason shook his head. "No, I'll tell him in person." He replied and walked over to a vacant police cruiser. "You coming, McCloud?"

"Right behind you." James sighed and got in the passenger seat.

Despite the aerial capabilities of the cruiser, Jason kept the automobile grounded and drove relatively slowly back to the city hall. He was in no mood to inform the General of the failure of his mission anyways. The odds of him getting in trouble were next to none, but it was the fact that someone was now a splattered mess five hundred feet below him on the surface was what was getting to the dog.

The streets were deserted as people had decided to steer clear of the locked down part of the city. Only the tall and lonely skyscrapers showed signs of life as lights would turn on and off as people moved about their offices and homes. A patrol flew by overhead and Jason sighed as the engines muted out the sound.

"You alright Mahoney?" James asked, not sure how his friend and old apprentice was doing. He'd always known Jason to be rather laid back and lived without regrets, yet this one was really getting to him.

"Yeah, it's nothing… it's just that… well call me crazy but I feel as if I knew that guy." Jason admitted as they turned into the city hall parking lot where people were slowly but surely getting clearance to leave.

"Maybe you did, I mean, not many people would kill so many people for some random stranger." James suggested and then chuckled to himself. "Hell, for all you know it could have been Relics who was the sniper."

Jason laughed to himself. "Relics? Nah. He's a good kid, not some cold blooded killer like us. He's back home right now sleeping."

There was a reason James threw the possibility of Relics being the Sniper, simply because of what Fox told him about the human. Apparently, Relics had bested Wolf twice in hand-to-hand combat, taken down nine guys by himself, was a damn good shot with a paintball gun, and he was wearing a Suppressor but that was briefed to him by the General. It wasn't wise to rule someone out because of personal attachment, that left you open and exposed.

With Jason's security clearance, he and James cleared the checkpoints in a few seconds before they headed towards the General's armored car where he had taken command inside of despite tonight's failed assassination attempt.

Like Jason had expected, General Pepper was disappointed that the sniper had killed himself, but was not in any way mad at his best agent, especially after all the success he'd had tonight. They were dismissed and given liberty to go home and rest for tonight, but Jason had something he wanted to check on first.

He walked over to the security check points and said goodbye to James before checking the log books for the Tress family. Apparently they were still in medical getting checked out. Jason shuddered to think of what could have happened to his future in-laws but steeled himself for the worst. When he got to medical and heard women crying, he wasn't feeling very optimistic. When he found the source he sighed with relief despite his dark foreshadowing.

"It's just a flesh wound girls, no need to raise a fuss." The tan colored vulpine assured as he held his sobbing wife and sniffling daughter in his arms. "I've been through worse than this on the schoolyard."

"But you got shot! They shot you daddy!" Lana mewled and squeezed her hurt father even tighter.

"OH! Okay, that hug hurts worse than this flesh wound does." Mr. Tress groaned as the air in his lungs was forced out.

"Evening." Jason said making his presence known.

Lana pulled her face out of her father's chest because of the familiar voice. She looked and saw that it was Jason and she immediately rushed him, nearly tackling him to the ground with one of the fiercest hugs a teenaged girl could make.

"Oh fuck." Jason wheezed. _'Girls got the Kung Fu grip, lucky Relics.'_

"Uh… hello, and who might you be?" Mr. Tress asked the man his daughter was hugging. His wife heard a small growl but only because she was so close to his chest crying.

"Mom, dad, this is the man who saved me and everyone else who got trapped inside. In fact, he was the one who took them all out, _and_ he's Relics' foster father. Mr. Mahoney." Lana beamed and had to resist the urge to see if Relics was somewhere around even though she knew he wasn't, he was back at home sleeping probably.

"I see. Well it certainly is good to meet you Mr. Mahoney." Mr. Tress said taking the German Sheppard in a new light now, especially with the military uniform.

"Likewise." Jason nodded. "I just came to check up on you all, I can see one of them managed to nick you on the arm there."

Mr. Tress sighed. "Yes, they only nicked me." He said and looked down at his distraught wife before looking back and mouthing "women." Jason nodded in understanding; he made some small talk before promising Lana that he would have Relics swing by tonight. He didn't agree with that but it was hard to refuse a pretty lady, even if she wasn't legal.

When he left, Jason went to his car and got in. He started the engine but didn't go anywhere at first, the canine just sat there thinking. Who was that sniper, and better yet, who was his employer? There were groups at work trying to kill Relics and the General but the only one that was working for them was Star Fox, but they denied any involvement until the hunt for the sniper. There were dozens of mercenary groups out there, but who would take such an interest in protecting the human? After all, if war broke out they'd get rich on all the employment opportunities.

Something James said started to make the canine itch. _'I know he was just joking but… Relics? I mean, there's just no way that a good kid like that could kill. Although he isn't a Cornerian, I have no idea how his mind works and he's definitely got the skills… but where would he get the gear? That sniper was armored from head to toe and that rifle on his back looked deadly. Nah, it couldn't have been him...'_

When he got home he found his house entirely dark and quiet. Chloe was no doubt sleeping soundly in bed as was Relics. Jason wondered to himself if he should wake both of them up and break the news to them, but he decided that Chloe was better to find out in the morning over breakfast, whereas Relics had a troubled minx to take "console".

Jason knocked on the door before walking in a few seconds later, just in case the human was masturbating. To his surprise, Relics wasn't masturbating, in fact he wasn't even in the room. Jason walked in, tense and smelling the air for foreign scents. He pulled out his gun as he searched the room for any indications of a struggle or the human's whereabouts.

"Relics?" Jason whispered when he found nothing. A jolt of fear gripped his heart and Jason ran to his room, nearly knocking the door off the hinges and startling his once pleasantly sleeping wife.

"Jason!" Chloe exclaimed and covered her naked form with the sheets. "What are you doing?" She hissed as her deranged husband began inspecting the room with the lights on. She squinted and her eyes watered because of the harsh intensity of the lights. When the room was clear Jason looked at the indigo panther.

"Chloe, have you seen Relics?" He panted desperately.

"Not since before we went to bed." Chloe admitted but suddenly she caught on to Jason's anxiousness. "Why? What's the matter?"

"I can't find him; he's not in his room." Jason said and padded over to the spot where her nightgown had been thrown to in a fit of fiery passion. He chucked to her before adding. "There was an attempt on the General's life tonight; I think they might even try for him tonight."

Chloe shivered as she thought of what that meant. "What are we going to do? What if those cutthroats come here?" She mewled affrightedly as she put on her nightgown with difficulty.

Jason walked over to her and took hold of her shaking hands. "Then I'd shoot them dead before they set foot on our property. Don't worry love; I'll keep both of you safe, just as soon as I find the friggen kid." He finished with a growl.

Chloe put a soft had on his shoulder, grabbing his attention. "You know, I don't think I could have fallen in love with another man as remarkable as you."

The canine's brown eyes widened as his wife kissed him deeply, pressing her body against his as a primal urge set in because of how heroic he was to her at the moment. Jason was not one to shy from an advance, but now was not the time. He quickly reached an arm behind his wife, pulled her into a deeper kiss but soon released her.

"Not now, first we find Relics and find somewhere else to stay for the night. I met this lovely couple not much older than us… if you're interested." Jason said as he walked out of the master bedroom to scour the house for the human.

They checked every room and closet but found nothing. There was no sign of the human or a note telling them where he went. Jason was absolutely livid with the human at the moment. Sure, sneaking out was what teenagers do (especially Jason when he was that age), but now was not the time to have snuck out to go get a little poon.

"Where could he have gone!" Jason snapped and smashed his curled up fist onto the kitchen counter, making Chloe's ears flatten for a second.

"I wish you wouldn't vent your frustration on the house, dear." She growled in her throat as she too was a bit upset with Relics for sneaking out to go do who knows what. Knowing teenagers, he was most likely doing drugs off some cheerleader's stomach, if you trust the news on what they report teenagers do.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just… that kid is _so _grounded when I find him." Jason said not knowing what else to do other than a good caning.

"I might just cane the kid." Chloe muttered which made Jason look at her in surprise. "Okay, not really, but I'll think about it." Jason gave her a skeptical look and she threw her hands up in the air. "Alright, I'd never lift a finger against him. It's just that tonight… why of all nights did he sneak out?"

"Our little boy's growing up." Jason said sarcastically.

"OH! Does he have his phone on him?" Chloe exclaimed, realizing what they should have done from the start.

Jason's ears perked up and his tail wagged ferociously. "He should! He can't understand us if he doesn't have it on him!"

"Well quick, quick! Call him!" Chloe meowed.

As fast as he could, Jason dug out his phone and started dialing Relics number, his speed only matched by that of a teenaged girl. Chloe was instantly by his side as the phone rang a few times. With every ring their hopes started to sink lower and lower. They were just about to give up when suddenly he picked up.

"Hello?"

"RELICS! WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" They screamed in unison.

"Got you didn't I?" The human chuckled which only infuriated the foster parents.

"IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE TO YOU MISTER?" Chloe hissed.

"CAUSE WE'RE NOT LAUGHING!" Jason added but stopped suddenly.

"It's just the voicemail. Leave a message after the beep or tone or whatever it is on Corneria." Relics finished just before a sound like a trumpet alerted the silent couple that they were in fact freaking out on a voicemail box.

Jason hung up and massaged his temples. "He is so fucking grounded. No TV, no video games, no friends, no food, no water, no sunlight, no-"

"I know, but first we've got to go find him. Where could he have gone?" Chloe asked, her fur standing on end.

"Actually, I think we should call it in. What if he's hurt out there?" Jason sighed.

Chloe smiled sweetly at Jason and pecked him on the cheek. "Well, I'd find the person responsible, cut off his balls, gouge out his eyes, and shove them up his ass so he can watch me blow my load down his throat from the inside."

Jason shifted uncomfortably as he came to terms with the fact that he in fact got a chub from his wife talking like that. "I love when you talk dirty." He moaned and attacked her with his lips and adventurous hands.

"First things first, where did my kit go?" Chloe said, pushing him off.

Jason scowled as he forced himself to remember. "The closest friend around here is about sixteen blocks away… I can't remember who but we can go check."

"Then let's not waste time standing here. Let's go get our son." Chloe declared and was out the door, still dressed in only her purple nightgown.

"Wait, honey! Don't you at least want to get dressed first?" Jason asked as he quickly scribbled down a note, ran up to his room, and left it on his bed before he had to run to the car that was already pulling out the driveway without him.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The tan minx sighed as she gazed up at the full moon. Her red eyes twinkled from the lights that could be mistaken for stars, but were just spaceships. Lana's night had been full of excitement and fear, now all she wanted to do was lay in bed next to someone. But only one person would do.

'_There must be something wrong with me. All I can think about is him, even when those men attacked at the party. Yet… I feel as if he was there with me, protecting me.'_ Lana sighed as she imagined his deep silver eyes that reminded her so much of silver, ice, and even the beautiful full moon that shined down on her and Corneria City. _'I really am losing it.'_

Her thoughts turned back to the night's chilling event. So many people were hurt but so many bad people were killed. She hadn't seen anybody get hurt, but when she was with her father at the medical station she saw firsthand the wounded and couldn't do a thing to help even though she wanted to so badly.

"Lana? Lana are you in there?" Mrs. Tress asked as she knocked on the closed door.

Lana stepped away from her window and opened the door. "I'm here mom."

The panther smiled nervously. "Oh, good. I was just checking on you…"

The minx smiled and hugged her mother. "Is something wrong mom?"

Mrs. Tress nodded as her eyes started to water. She looked at her beautiful daughter and sniffled. "Baby, when we were separated and I couldn't find you… I realized what a terrible mother I was."

Lana's muzzle dropped from shock. The minx never considered her to be a bad mother, even if she wasn't around all that much anymore. She tried to tell her that but the panther would not hear it.

"That is why I'm quitting as the vice CEO. I realized that I don't have as much time as I had with you anymore, you're turning into such a beautiful young woman. You're so smart and talented too, you've already got a scholarship lined up for track, and you're just a junior! I want to be there at your graduation, I want to go to your track meets, I want to teach you how to drive a car and all that!" Mrs. Tress emptied on to the teary eyed minx. "I just want to be the mother that you deserve."

That was the break point for both of them. Mrs. Tress burst into tears and her daughter instantly embraced her and cried with her.

"You are mom; you're the best mother I could have ever asked for." Lana mewed and hugged her mom tighter.

Their touching moment was interrupted by a sudden knock on the front door. They separated and both went to go see who it was. When they opened the door they saw it was the Mahoney's.

"Mr. Mahoney! What a pleasure to see you again." Mrs. Tress beamed.

"Good evening." Jason replied. "Sorry for bothering you so late but we were wondering if you knew where Relics was? He's not answering his phone and we thought he might be at one of his friends' house."

"Well that depends." Mrs. Tress said and looked to her daughter. "Are you hiding any boys in your room tonight?" She asked her daughter playfully.

"Well not tonight- kidding! I'm just kidding mom!" Lana assured the woman who nearly had a heart attack. "No. He's not here… is he alright?" Lana asked growing a bit concerned for her hero. She knew he could take care of himself but what if a group of murderous thugs came looking for him too?

"I'm sure he is but he won't be when I get my hands on him." Jason added.

"Would you like help looking for him? It's the least we could do." Mrs. Tress offered.

Chloe shook her head. "You've been through enough tonight, we can handle this."

That would have been the last word if Mr. Tress hadn't suddenly walked in. "The human's missing? Well, let's go out there and look for him!"

"Daddy, you should be resting! You got shot!" Lana said trying to force her father back to the living room and onto the couch but the vulpine had a stubborn pride that refused to sit at home eating treats when he was needed. If Lana's little crush was missing, than this was an opportune time to take care of him then hide the body. He was only just coming around to the thought of an alien dating his daughter, but until a full turnaround was made, he'd settle for the human to be placed in an unmarked grave, far away from his daughter (whom he thought was still a virgin).

"Still just a flesh wound." He reminded her and grabbed his coat and shoes. "Now dear, you stay here and we'll go find your little friend, hopefully he'll be alive and not dead and naked in some gutter somewhere."

Chloe and Lana gasped frightfully at that comment and he felt kind of awkward for saying it.

"Very nice dear. Just for that, you're staying here." Mrs. Tress said and grabbed her coat and shoes. "Sweetie, stay here and get some sleep. You've been through enough as it is tonight."

Lana wanted to argue and convince her mother to let her come along but she knew she wouldn't win. Her parents were still trying their damnedest to see to it that she and Relics didn't hang out that much, but that only made their time together all the sweeter. Still, the minx put on her best pouting face only to be foiled by her mother's unwavering resolve to keep her home where no boys would be.

Jason, Chloe, and Mrs. Tress left the disappointed minx and the vulpine behind, promising to be back in three or so hours.

"Now that those squares are gone, you want to try one of daddy's pain killers? I'll give you half of one so you can get to sleep easier." Mr. Tress teased to which Lana replied to without skipping a beat.

"No thanks; I've got some acid upstairs to help me get to sleep. Kidding, kidding!" Lana giggled when he saw her father's face go blank and all the color rush out.

About a half an hour later Mr. Tress had passed out after taking just one painkiller. Lana fetched him a warm blanket and made sure he was comfortable before turning off the TV and heading up to her room. She sighed and tried not to think of Relics but that was like asking her to stop her fur from growing. After what Jason told her at the party, she was absolutely sure that he liked her, and she knew she liked him. Hell, she would do anything for him after all he'd done for her. Not once did he ask for anything in return, had never treated her like crap, or done something to make her feel uncomfortable. When they talked it was like they just clicked. Anything and everything they talked about could go on for hours, even if it was something neither of them understood.

A small voice in the back of her head was telling her that she should be worried about Relics, that he was somewhere out there right now with someone else. She was never a jealous person, but when Fara or any other girl gave Relics a smile it made her fur on the back of her neck stand on end. Of course she might have to get used to it because of how much everyone was coming around to him….

"You know, call me a crazy bitch but… that human is starting to look kinda hot." An attractive spaniel said one day in Lana's class.

Lana's claws extended and scratched the desk without her intention but with her emotion.

"I was just gonna say that! I mean, he's no Fox McCloud but yeah, I'd bang him." One of her friends, a black and white feline, preppy, intolerable cheerleader that spread more gossip and rumors than she did STD's said.

"That's kind of pushing it, I mean, how do we know he hasn't got some sort of monster dick or something?" The third girl of the group a very stuck up she-wolf said all whiney like that could drive any normal person up a wall.

"So what? It can't be that bad, I bet it's pretty big though." The feline purred. "Why not enjoy all the fruits and delights the universe had to offer?"

"That's sick! He's probably all veiny and malformed down there." The she-wolf argued.

"Well you know who we could ask? That minx girl he always hangs out with." The spaniel suggested so to stop her friends from arguing.

She had tried to say it quietly and discreetly but Lana heard her but chose to ignore her and concentrate on her schoolwork.

The feline smirked. "If anyone's been in his pants it's her. I bet she got on her knees the day they met and swallowed."

Lana's eyes almost popped out of her skull and she broke her favorite pencil at the sudden comment.

'_Relics and I are just friends! I would never… well I certainly wouldn't when I first met the guy! I mean, maybe if we were in a real relationship and somewhere down the line… I mean. God, is it hot in here?'_ Lana thought to herself as her face and ears went red.

"We should ask her after class; get the words right out of the slut's mouth." The she-wolf growled approvingly.

"Sad thing is I bet she has, she went out with Wolf for a while, a cold hearted bitch like that certainly wouldn't mind getting fucked by an alien freak show." The spaniel giggled.

If it weren't for the thought of Wolf, Lana would have jumped out her desk and bitch slapped all three of those girls out. Wolf had taken her in and turned her into someone she never wanted to be again. Back in the old days she'd walk around school like she owned the place, beat other girls within inches of their lives, and drank until she couldn't stand. But when she realized what she became and decided to leave Wolf, she found that no one liked her, not even her so called friends from before. For nearly a year she was an outcast, picked on and bullied to the point she was considering suicide, but all that changed when Fox and his friends picked her up. They brought her in and staved off everyone's attacks, created a new reputation for her, and gave her a second chance. Most people forgot about the old Lana, but some hatreds were too venomous to go away.

Lana shook those thoughts from her mind and headed up to her room feeling so tired all of a sudden. All she wanted to do now was fall asleep and forget about today. She was so tired that she nodded off once or twice on the couch earlier.

The minx licked her dry lips and opened her bedroom door to find utter darkness. She sighed a little before turning on the light but she came to the conclusion that it burnt out when it didn't come on after numerous tries. Sighing with agitation she walked into her room and closed the door behind herself, intent to navigate her room in the dark once her sublime inherited feline shaped eyes adjusted to the darkness. When they did however, she saw a figure sitting on her bed and she gasped.

"Hello Lana."

"Relics." Lana whispered back, her heart on the verge of exploding with joy and excitement. Then it hit her, he wasn't wearing anything but his underwear. All her burning blood rushed to her face to give her a radiant glow. "Re-Relics! I uh… where are your clothes?" She gapped trying not to look at his near perfect body or the eye drawing bulge in his lap.

"Sorry, this isn't what it looks like." Relics said and covered himself with a sheet, something he would have done earlier if he were thinking straight. Right now, all he could think of was that burning desire to be with the beautiful minx and nothing else. To hold her, feel her, taste her, love her, that's all he wanted from life and would give everything to get it.

"And what _does_ it look like- the situation! Not you di-" The minx said trying to retract her particularly suggestive choice of words but wound up floundering.

"Well," Relics said and cleared his throat, "I'm not trying to seduce you for one."

'_Well it sure doesn't feel like it… God it's so hot in here!'_ Lana thought as a bead of sweat rolled down her neck and through her thinned fur.

"Then why don't you have clothes?" Lana asked not with a sense of attitude or distaste.

"You don't seem to mind." Relics pointed out with a suave voice.

Somehow the minx turned even redder and she gave off a forced growl. "I do too mind!"

'_No… I don't.'_ Lana realized no matter how much she was trying to convince herself otherwise.

"Then why are you turning so red?" Relics asked and stood up, carrying a cotton like jacket to cover his area.

"Because I didn't think that when I came into my own room a nearly naked guy would be sitting on my bed like he owned the place!" Lana argued but she had no idea why. She was entirely fine with this, albeit she was nervous and excited at the same time.

"Then how come you haven't kicked me out yet?" Relics asked taking small, slow steps towards her.

"You're my friend, that's why! Although you are pushing it." She hissed finally mustering the courage to look at him but grew a little light headed at the sight of his furless, toned body.

'_He's so hot! Oh my God, just like Wolf used to be before he went all muscle headed!'_ She thought as tantalizing shocks crawled up her legs and punctured her moistening depths.

"Am I?" Relics asked not believing her feigned seriousness one bit. "Do all your friends show up at your doorstep as little dressed as I?"

"No, I'd tell them to go back home and-" Lana said but stopped when Relics moved a strand of hair from her eyes.

"So why haven't you told me?"

Lana's heart was getting ready to burst; he was toying with her and wrapping her around his finger so easily that it strangely excited her. It has been so long that anyone held such dominance and power over her emotions, desires, and lusts.

"Because I-" She began, about to finally find a flaw in his words and break his spell but he wouldn't let her. He spoke too fast and didn't even give her a chance to defend herself.

"Maybe you consider me more than a friend?" He asked, his body just a mere inch from hers, his warmth and masculine scent leaping from his body and encompassing her own smaller, softer, beautifully feminine body.

"I… I…." Lana stammered as she trembled under his silver gaze that was reflecting the light of the moon only making them more intoxicating. "Yes." She whispered, his handsome face inching towards her burning red visage.

"Than what am I? What can a guy like me possibly mean to the most beautiful girl he's ever going to see?" Relics asked, his hot breath lapping at her neck making her shiver with delight.

'_Oh my God, I can't stand it! He's so God damn amazing!'_ Lana thought and resisted with all her might not to jump him. She tore her eyes away and came up with a reason, some pitiful excuse to beat him at his game, but she had no idea why. Perhaps deep down she knew why she was playing so hard to get, but right now that little voice keeping her from the man she liked so much was quickly being smothered by her animal urges howling for him, his body, and his sex.

"Well y-you're my-" Lana said but gasped as his left arm snaked around her waist while his right reached up to her muzzle and brought her eyes back to his. "You're my closest friend and I don't want to lose you." She whispered.

He gave her a warm grin and pulled her body into his. The minx's ruby red eyes widened as she felt his manhood press against her as well as his strong and hot body. If it weren't for his support she'd have collapsed but he held her to him and she loved every second of it.

"Don't lie." He sighed with a deep and seductive voice. "Say it. Say what your heart tells you, not what your fear tells you."

They were so close now, mere millimeters apart from experiencing their first kiss together. Lana wanted to attack his lips with her own, get to commit his flavor to memory and then savor it all night long. Yet as much as she wanted it and leaned in for it, the cruel tease would move away just before they connected.

"Please." Lana begged wanting the kiss so badly. "I don't think I can say it."

"You can Lana, you can and you've known it for such a long time." Relics said, his grip tightening on her body but still far from being anything but gentle and soothing.

A small tear crept down her face and she smiled. "I have, but I thought I had it once. I want to share it with you and be yours, but Wolf-"

"I am nothing like that animal." Relics affirmed. "I would never hurt you; your happiness means more to me than anything." He said and took her paw in his hand and placed it on his heart. "With every beat, it yearns for your love…. Say it."

She hesitated as she felt every fast beat resonate through her soul. His love was cascading through her and freeing her from her darkest fears of pain, exile, and seclusion. Her voice finally came to her and she spoke so sincerely and lovingly that it even burned the last trace of doubt in her mind.

"I love you." She whispered.

The human smiled but did not draw in for the kiss that she so desperately craved. The minx's ears drooped questioningly as her body began to shake from the cold. She flinched as a draft ran through her fur and chilled her to the core. The minx pulled herself closer to her love for his warmth but he seemed to no longer offer any, only standing there smiling at her.

"Relics? What's going on?" She asked before she began to quiver. "Why am I so cold? I-" he said when suddenly the warmth returned and caressed her.

"And I love you." Relics said as if he was merely on pause before he drew in for the kiss.

Lana's heart skipped a beat but something was off. She felt the kiss yes but not the love that he promised. As hard as she pressed, she could not find a single trace of it. Then it hit her and she cried silently to herself.

"You're not real." She whispered when they parted. To her this was a sick joke that her mind was playing on her. Why, if she wanted it this so badly, would her own subconscious torment her?

The dream Relics wiped a tear from her face but she smacked him away. "I know you must be so angry and upset right now, but now you know too."

"Know what?" Lana demanded, her red eyes turning redder from her tears.

"You know that it isn't some foolish teenaged girl obsession with me. This dream proves that something deeper exists than mere fascination. You said it yourself, it's love." Relics finished at a low whisper causing the minx to freeze.

She hadn't thought of it like that, yes she didn't have the real thing but with this revelation all she had to do was take it. She loved him, and even if he only liked her, the chance still existed that he could love her too.

"But what does it matter? You… Relics doesn't love me." Lana sighed and pulled away from the fabricated relics.

"Don't I?" The human asked. "Do you think any normal person would charge head first into a den of murderous thugs to save someone they barely know? Can you talk so freely and so intimately with just anyone? What about how I always turn red and stutter when I first see you?"

"Are you saying?" Lana asked, hope returning to the bright eyed minx. Relics only smirked and nodded. "W-What should I do?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you everything." Relics laughed. "I am after all, only a figment of your imagination and subconscious. The fact that you're even dreaming this lucidly is astounding."

Lana burned red and giggled. "It wouldn't be the first one with you in it."

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"I think we should call it quits dear. I'll call the General and he'll issue a system wide search." Jason sighed as he wrapped a comforting arm around his distraught wife.

"You two are welcome to stay the night at our home if you wish." Mrs. Tress offered the exhausted couple but Chloe wouldn't hear it.

"He's out there Jason." Chloe cried as she continued to look out the car window desperately for Relics. "My kit is out there, I know it!"

Mrs. Tress shivered at what the panther said. _'Did she just call the human her kit?'_

Jason stopped at a red light and quickly gave his wife a kiss. "The Army will find them dear, he'll come home safe."

"I miss him, I want him in my arms." Chloe sniffled.

"I know, I know." Jason whispered softly. "I miss him too."

The panther sitting in the back watched the two talk about the human as if he was their own flesh and blood, not some alien. This confused her and made her think about a few things. Maybe this was what Lana felt for him? Did she see the skin or did she see something else? Was it just curiosity or was she legitimately fascinated and attracted to him?

'_All she ever does now a days is talk about him… could Xavier and I be wrong about him?'_ She wondered as they turned onto her street and headed back towards her home. The rest of the ride was short and quiet and when they got back to the Tress residence, Mrs. Tress offered them in.

"Thank you but we should go home to see if he's back yet." Chloe said with tears nearly falling out her soft lavender eyes.

"If he is he'd have called, I left a note in his room before I left and you nearly turned the corner." Jason said with an amused chuckle. His hand took his wife's and he stroked it lovingly with his thumb. This made the panther purr and she agreed to take Mrs. Tress up on her offer, she was after all, awfully tired as her adrenaline had started to wane and gave way to worry and fatigue.

When they got back they found that Mr. Tress had passed out on the couch while Lana had fallen asleep in her bed. Her mother noticed that the young woman's blanket had fallen off her in her sleep (which was the cause for her sudden chill in her dreams) so she put it back and tucked Lana in (which was the cause for her sudden chill in her dreams).

"Goodnight Lana." Mrs. Tress purred and bent in to kiss her goodnight.

"Relics." Lana mewled in her sleep giving her mother a pause.

'_You really do care for this boy, don't you?'_ The panther thought disheartened. _'It's not that I "hate" him… I'm just afraid of him and what he could do to you.'_ Her mother went on as she pet her daughter a few times. _'You've already been through so much and felt so much pain for your mistakes. I'm afraid he might be your biggest mistake yet. But… if you truly want this… you'll have my blessing. He's not that bad a kid, maybe a bit stupid but not that bad.'_

Giving her a goodnight kiss, Mrs. Tress walked out shut the door to her daughter's room to go tend to her guests.

"So you had no luck finding him?" Mr. Tress asked, his speech slurred because he had only just woken up and was still a bit woozy from the painkillers.

"None Mr. Tress." Jason sighed in defeat.

"Please, call me Xavier, and my hot wife is Angie." He mumbled.

"You haven't been drinking have you Xavier?" Angie said with a bit of a feline growl as she didn't approve of being called hot around guests, it was unprofessional.

"Nope, just taking my meds." He said and moved to pop another pill in his mouth but Jason stopped him when he saw that the bottle was very low.

"I think you've had enough, too much can kill you." He said and took the pill bottle.

Angie sat down on the couch next to her husband and across from the Mahoney couple. Being the hospitable person she was, Angie offered them something to eat or drink but they weren't in the mood.

"I'm sure he'll turn up, I've tried to kill him too but he's rather wily." Xavier said reassuringly.

"You what?" Chloe asked about to break the fox's face.

"This was back when we caught him in our daughter's room after returning from a business trip. Back then we had no idea what a good kid he was." Angie said quickly so to defuse the mother bear syndrome Chloe was no doubt feeling.

"Indeed." Chloe said, sedated but ever more watchful of the two who were so keen on taking her kit's life.

"So where do you think he is now?" Xavier asked.

"One of his friend's places, at a bar, captured by the Venomians." Jason growled wanting to bust some heads but that was up to the General now. He pulled out his phone and started to dial when his phone went dead. "Bah! Are you kidding me?"

"Here," Angie said reaching for her purse on the coffee table in front of them, "use my charger."

Jason grunted a thanks and connected his phone to the charger. He would have to wait a while before his phone turned back on before he could call the General.

Chloe suddenly stiffened and tested the air with her nose. Her feline ears went berserk flipping around for a sound when suddenly she found one. A small knock on the front door was all it took to turn the deep purple panther into a bullet that nearly busted the door down and attacked the person standing outside.

"Oh Relics! Don't ever do that to me again! You had me so worried I-" Chloe cried as she crushed the person in her arms when a strange scent made her stop. She let the wheezing man go and inspected him. He was a tall, orange vulpine with green eyes and a white muzzle. Chloe felt heartbroken it wasn't her kit and apologized.

"Don't be… is your husband here?" James asked with a grim voice.

"Yes… wh-what happened?" Chloe asked as Jason came to the door with Angie and Xavier standing close by.

"We need you Jason to come down to Fort Lewis; we found him lying in the street." James said making Chloe burst into tears.

"You found who?" Jason somehow managed to ask as his entire body had gone numb from a cold deathly feeling crawling up and down his body.

"The human… it's not good." James said, unable to look the canine in the eyes.


	31. Retaliation

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Hey everybody, thanks for being so patient, I promise this chapter will clear everything up and bring some closure. Uh, some good news, I've posted two (count 'em, two!) pictures of our favorite OC love interest for another OC, Lana Tress! Yup, did 'em myself, here are the links**_

#/d53jkhx

art/Lana-Tress-Higher-Quality-Version-308819852

**_If they got cut up for some strange reason, the links are on my profile page._**

_**One more thing, if anyone wants to hit me up on Diablo 3, drop me a line! I need meat shields in Hell!**_

_**Enjoy. **_

Jason clenched his jaw as tears swelled in his eyes. The sight before him drove his wife to an inconsolable state as she wept over his unmoving body. He wanted to reach out to her and comfort her but how could he when the sight of his foster son was tearing his heart in two. It was inexcusable what happened and he blamed only himself for it. He was the human's guardian, his bodyguard, his friend; and now he was lying on a cold army hospitable bed.

"How did this happen?" Jason forced out through a coarse throat and his teeth.

James looked to the canine and jutted his head to follow, what he was about to say was something Chloe really didn't need to hear at the moment. They left the room and softly shut the door behind them before the vulpine shared with him what transpired.

"From what we can tell from eyewitnesses and tracking his movements through his wrist com, Relics left at your home at eleven thirteen, fifteen minutes _after_ the attack." James added which was a relief for the canine's mind as he was beginning to have suspicions of the kid's involvement in the attack. "He headed into the city traveling at roughly jogging or even running speed until twelve oh five, at which point he entered the city and our search had already come to an end for the sniper. We still haven't found the body."

Jason nodded as the facts were absorbed. "So Relics couldn't have been involved."

James frowned and grunted. "Not necessarily, it's possible he was involved but wasn't physically involved tonight. All we can determine for sure was that he was not there because it is impossible to get over twenty miles distance in Corneria city undetected with the entire police force looking for you."

"You're too suspicious McCloud." Jason growled wanting to defend Relics' honor.

"I'm just following my instincts Mahoney; you should remember because that was exactly what I taught you. You can't stand there and look me in the eyes and say that you didn't have so much as a trace of suspicion it was him." James growled back, fatigue and stress the source of his lashing out.

The German Sheppard glared at the vulpine but could not deny that he was right. "We're getting off track, what happened next?"

"For some reason our eyes in the sky lost him right after that, we think it was because of all the interference from searching for the sniper's body. A few minutes later we pinged him again but he wasn't moving and he was in the middle of the street. We feared that he might have had a replay of the last time…" James said as a memory of the selfless act he witnessed that day when Relics threw his daughter out of the way of traffic and into his wife's arms. "We went to find him but found that he was surrounded by a domestic pirate gang called the Blue Vipers. We routed them off and found him as you just saw."

"Does that gang have any ties to Venom?" Jason asked, not wanting to think of what Relics looked like back in the near lifeless hospital room.

"No, as I said they're domestic." James answered and pulled up a holographic projection of the gang's colors. "We can't have this leaking out to the public, if word of this gets out then the humans can track it through our networks."

Jason's muzzle dropped. "They're in our networks?"

"Yes, they are. We've been able to contain them and keep them in public servers only, but cyber warfare is something this mercenary was never trained for."

Jason growled in his throat and his fur on the back of his neck stood on end. "If we can't let this out, than we know what needs to be done. The General hired you for it didn't he? I want in."

The orange Fox adjusted his sunglasses and sighed. "I can't. This incident has put you in some… hot water to say in the least. Last I saw the General he was furious. I told him that I was questioning you but when I'm done he's going to want to see you."

"I don't give a flying fuck." Jason snapped. "Those bastards hurt my kid, I will make them bleed!"

"Your kid?" James asked cocking an eyebrow. "Mahoney, I respect you as a soldier and a friend, but I think you're becoming too attached to the human. His kind is the enemy, we just need to find out how best to deal with them and the rest of their kind-" James went on but was interrupted by a swift left hook.

The vulpine threw up his right hand and blocked Jason's left hook to his face at the elbow. He wasn't so lucky to block the hard jab with his right to the gut however and the blow knocked the wind out of the fox but that wouldn't put him down. James immediately retaliated with his right elbow into Jason's left eye knocking him back. Jason growled and nearly launched himself at James but found himself staring down the barrel of a blaster.

"You gonna shoot me James?" Jason snarled defiantly despite the gun priming.

The two men stared each other down for an untold length of time. The tension seemed to solidify in the air and make it hard to breathe as neither one seemed to draw breath unless absolutely necessary. The blaster continued to whir and whine, a sure tell sign that the small handgun was rather a high caliber gun that could take off a man's arm as easily as it could shoot a man between the eyes from seven hundred yards.

"If I was going to shoot you, it would have been years ago." James sighed and holstered his weapon. "Sorry Mahoney, I only said those things to see how far you'd be willing to go for this kid."

"I'd murder an entire platoon if I had to." Jason growled.

"How about a small gang?"

Jason hesitated as a low roar formed in his throat and he grinned darkly. "I'll go grab my gun."

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The canine growled in approval as he stood precariously in the open maw of the drop-ship. Jason let go of the handle that was the only thing keeping him on the ship should they run into a little turbulence. He primed his gun and checked the battery charge. His inspection complete he checked behind him and smirked.

"What's the ETA, McCloud?" Jason growled with eagerness.

"ETA in five, Mahoney." James grunted as he pawed his assault rifle over. "Are you sure we should go at this alone? There are at least thirty people-"

"You're lucky I'm even letting you come along." Jason laughed. "Those assholes are all gonna die tonight for what they did."

James bit his bottom lip and started to have second thoughts about letting Jason be a part of this mission at all, but there was no way he'd sit this one out; that fierce look in the canine's eyes proved that. In a way it was a little frightening but the vulpine could relate as he would murder anyone who hurt his kids.

"Sir, we're one minute from the LZ, we're going in hot." The pilot said through the radio into the receiver in James' ear.

"Roger that, don't stick around when we jump, just get out of here and get back to base." James barked to the pilot and stood up from his chair and walked to the open door with the German Sheppard. "You ready?"

Jason only looked at the vulpine with a look ready to kill.

The drop-ship increased in speed as it neared the landing zone with no intention to slow. They were flying over a very rundown part of the city where crime was rampant and gang violence was far higher than the rest of the city combined. Like most of the city which was on lockdown, the streets were deserted and the lights were out which gave the near silent drop-ship the extra layer of stealth and surprise.

Their target couldn't have been any more conspicuous as not a square inch of the building was not tagged, several windows were broken, and a vile smell came from the building even from a block away. The drop-ship ran faster and faster towards the building playing a one sided game of chicken. Just fifty feet from a collision, the silent craft pulled up and the two men jumped.

"Fuck!" Jason growled in undertone as his legs crumpled under the stress of the fall.

"What the fuck was tha-" A young wolf said before he too fell to the ground but unlike Jason, he had a burning hole where his left eye should have been.

James exhaled and turned his gun to a new target and fired taking down a vulpine. A nasty taste welled up in his mouth as the two gangsters were probably no older than his own son, probably younger. Somehow that kid found his way into the Blue Vipers and then into the crosshairs of James' rifle. He might not have been involved with tonight's crime, but he paid the ultimate price for it. The vulpine spit out the taste and lowered his smoking gun.

"You alright Mahoney?" James asked and picked himself up off the ground.

"Yeah, feel like I jumped off a ten story building onto a concrete floor." Jason scowled and stood up. "Guess that's two down, only twenty eight or so left, right? Let's get to it."

James growled in his throat as Jason ran to the door that led into the depths of the building. The vulpine quickly followed after him and stood to the left of the door as Jason took the right. They looked at each other before an unspoken signal flashed between their gazes. Jason threw the door open and ducked, pointing his gun forward for a target as James stood over him and also scanned for a target.

Two large men saw them and reached for their guns in their pants but were gunned down before their hands got anywhere near the handle. Jason quickly stepped in, searching for a new target as he went but found none.

"Fucking hoodlums." Jason growled as he inspected the trashed lounge. There were filthy couches seemingly thrown around at random, drug paraphernalia everywhere, discarded bottles of alcohol, and mold and mildew on all the walls and ceiling.

"They don't know we're here yet, let's keep moving." James grunted and proceeded through the building.

Jason nodded and followed behind the vulpine. They came to a hallway with six doors, three on the left and three on the right. With extreme proficiency they checked the rooms but found no one until they came to the very last door on the right. They burst in and found seven men and three women in the room. What they were doing was too sick to describe but not a single one of them was able to retaliate as Jason and James opened fire, sparing none.

Jason felt a bittersweet feeling of satisfaction envelope him as his sights picked his targets and he blew a charged, jagged metal slug through their bodies. James however made precise shots to the head in hopes of keeping them quiet but just as they had killed half of them they were noticed and the ones left started to scream. Their dying screams were loud enough to wake the block and unfortunately alerted the building of the two men's presence.

"That'll be our hosts. I'm going to go say hi." Jason told James as he took off the silencer on his deadly blaster.

Jason walked out of the room with a bit of blood on his Kevlar like vest just as a laser whizzed past his muzzle, singing him a bit.

"You missed fucker." He growled before turning his gun to his assailants. Four more of the Blue Vipers had shown up to the party but they made the mistake of crowding up a flight of stairs which gave Jason the perfect bottle neck. He shot seven rounds into the stairwell, each shot tearing through the first gang member all the way to the last and then the wall behind them.

"We're clear in here… those girls weren't Blue Vipers though, they don't have any of the tattoos." James added in undertone.

"Wrong place, wrong time." Jason growled without any sense of remorse.

"Sad really." James grunted as they moved on.

The building was now on full alert but that wouldn't stop the army of two.

"Hold on, let me…" James said as he pulled out a pair of goggled from the pack attached to his vest. He put them up to his face and looked all over for a while before nodding. "Alright, there's ten of them downstairs, three there, four there, three there." James said pointing them out on the floor. "The others made a run for it but our backup took care of that. I think that we can run downstairs and if we divide them up we can put an end to this puny gang."

"Sounds good." Jason grunted back and pulled a canister off his belt. "On three. Onetwothree!" Jason said like rapid fire and chucked the canister down the stairs, bouncing it off the wall and into the room below. A small explosion resonated from lower level, as well as a bunch of worried voices.

Jason ran down the stairs two at a time and turned the corner, firing at exactly where James had pointed. He couldn't see a damn thing as the entire wide open living room was filled with a white smoke that was doubled as a mild irritant. In a way it was like tear gas but cloudy and would keep them out of sight. For the pirates it was rather crippling, but Jason had become accustomed to it and muscled his way through the irritant, as did James who charged in right behind him.

With stinging eyes, Jason found four of the targets and took aim at the one rubbing his eyes feverously like it would do something. A quick double tap to the head and the leopard was out of his misery. The other three were a little more tolerant of the gas and looked desperately for him but Jason was too fast. With three more deadly trigger pulls, the three fell and joined their friend on the deck.

"FUCK!" The canine shouted in pain while his body lurched forward from the impact of the shot to his back. Moving with his momentum, Jason rolled forward and came to facing the other direction, his sights trained on the little bastard that shot him in the back. Without hesitation, Jason put the spaniel down.

Before Jason could get back up, a score of lasers were fired until silence once again filled the building. Jason coughed as the irritant was starting to have an effect on him but then he felt a hand grab him from behind. His first instinct was to lash around and fight for his life but he stopped himself when he heard James' voice.

"That's the last of them… the stragglers will be cleaned up by the Army. Let's get back to the hospital and out of this fucking gas." The vulpine scowled as the gas was also beginning to affect him as well.

"Right, let's go." Jason coughed and headed for the exit.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"I'm sorry sweetie, my poor boy." Chloe whispered as she stroked the cold hand of the human.

Her tears had long dried up but she felt like there were thousands more to shed but couldn't. To her, this alien lying in the bed _was_ her kit. He made her so proud, he was such a nice boy, and he even accepted her as a mother to her greatest joy. Everything about him made her jealous of his real mother, even after some of the shenanigans he and Jason pulled together. He was a good kid, but not overly so. He had a great personality, he had a great character but wasn't a good-boy drone.

To see him lying in the bed unmoving was unacceptable to the panther. Whoever did this to him had to pay, and she knew that was what Jason was doing now.

Another hour passed before the feline began to nod off, grief slowly succumbing to her weariness. Just as her eyes fluttered shut, a small hiss of an electric door opening woke her. She looked to the doorway and found her husband looking as grim as ever. His mood didn't stop him from walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek however.

"Are you alright?" Chloe asked as he too was as cold as the human.

The canine looked into her lavender eyes for a moment and sighed. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Chloe shook her head, another tear almost finding its way down her already tear ridden face. "I just can't believe something like this could have happened. First the car accident and now this? Why does everyone want such a sweet boy dead so much?"

"I don't know love," Jason replied as he stroked her cheek, "I just don't know. The last chance for peace rests with him, and all anyone seems to want to do is kill him."

"It's not fair." Chloe whispered as she began to tremble with anger, grief, and hate. "It's not fair! He's just a kid! He shouldn't have to worry about being jumped walking down the streets!" The panther hissed as the tears once again found a means of escaping. "He should be having fun, hanging out with friends, kissing girls! Not lying in a hospital bed…"

"Chloe…" Jason said but could find no other words so actions were used in their stead. Without another useless word the canine wrapped his arms around his shaking wife. She did not embrace him back as she was succumbing to the grief and had lost the will to hold him too. Yet her husband's warmth and love was enough to keep her sane. Her son might not be able to respond which tore her up along the seams of sanity, but her husband craftily renewed the frays behind the moving rift.

For a long while they remained like that, unmoving and unable to speak. Jason wouldn't let her go until every last tear was out, even if every single one was spilt into his chest and shirt. He was here for her when he needed her as part of his undying love for her and the vows he made when she became his seemingly so long ago.

Chloe choked up on a sob and sighed when she felt a small tickling sensation on her hand. For a brief moment her mind flashed back to what should have happened tonight. Relics should have slept soundly in his nice warm bed, and she and Jason should have eventually fallen asleep after finally conceiving a child. Instead nothing went to plan and it all went to Hell.

The more she thought of last night's tragedy the harder it was to think as the tickling continued. Ignoring it was failing and the longer it went on the stranger she felt. For some reason she didn't feel like crying with the soft sensational touch running across her silky smooth hand. At last her husband removed both his arms around her now that she felt better. Yet the touch continued to graze her hand.

"Jason stop it…" Chloe sighed and looked to her hand. "I'm not in the moo-"

All at once her blood and heart froze in its tracks. Her husband did not have white paws. The panther's wide eyes darted to the human and he smiled.

"Please don't cry mom." He whispered softly before falling back asleep.

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ And the little bastard is still alive. Holy shit! The story goes on. I think it has been made clear that his involvement with the murder attempt has been confirmed that he wasn't a part of it. How though? We'll find out next chapter since I think that this is a good enough spot to wrap it up. Albeit this is a short chapter… tell you what, I'll make it up to you and next chapter will be twice as long. Deal? Hope you enjoyed, don't forget the Lana pics, and hit me up with that colab on Diablo 3!**_


	32. Baywatch

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Alright, so I had this super awesome idea planned for today's chapter but Cpt. Fox beat me to it. Was going to have a super awesome chapter where Relics and Lana head down to some beach and spend the whole day together, maybe even kiss if I so deem it… but no! If I did that then people might think I was copying Cpt. Fox like a talentless bitch! BUT IT'S NOT FAIR! Because his story is like freaking Baywatch! It takes place on the beach ninety percent of the time (not really, but still). So fuck it! We'll do it live! Sir Captain Fox doesn't have a monopoly on Baywatch! Plus it's summer! It's hot out! And if you're stuck in a hot environment you might as well read about people staying cool and swimming.**_

**_Don't forget to check my profile page because I have another picture up, this one of Jason!  
_**

_**I did both of them, like a bouse.**_

_**And that random anonymous guy that guessed it… damn dude.**_

_**One more thing, I said last time that this chapter would be twice as long as the last… I lied. It's three times longer! Anyways, hope you enjoy and please don't get mad… you'll find out soon enough.**_

A light knock from the front door perked up the panther's ears. She growled in her throat when the knocking repeated half a minute later and she grabbed the bat beside her chair. Her fur standing on end, the panther stomped over to the front door and opened it, ready to cave in somebody's head but found an unexpected surprise. She lowered the bat, much to the minx's relief.

"Lana, dear! Sorry about that, but the press has been relentlessly assaulting my front door all morning." Chloe purred and put the bat down against the wall. "Once I brought this out though, they stopped coming around very often. You want to come in?"

"Uh, yes please." Lana almost whispered as the shock of nearly having her skull bashed in lingered. She stepped in like a nervous guest before being ushered to the living room where Chloe seemingly had been waiting for her as there was a kettle of tea and two cups. Her host sat Lana down right across from her so they'd be able to talk and drink the sweat smelling tea easier.

"So what brings you round our neck of the woods… as if I have to ask." Chloe purred.

Lana flushed a bit of pink and took the tea Chloe poured for her. "No, not really." She admitted before taking a sip of her tea.

"I'm afraid though that Relics isn't here right now, he's back at Fort Lewis with Jason going over a few more details as to what happened last week." Chloe told the disappointed minx. "But that was a few hours ago and they should be back any minute now. In the meantime, you can stay here and wait with me. A little… one on one girl time." Chloe said all too nicely for the younger woman's taste.

'_Uh oh.'_ Lana thought nervously as she had heard rumors of the mother and the son's girlfriend sit down. A couple ended bloody.

"That sounds great." Lana said with a small laugh that could be construed as nervous.

"What exactly is your angle?" Chloe asked bluntly.

Lana did a double take before asking. "I'm sorry? My angle?"

Chloe gave Lana a dull look before asking. "What do you want from him? Since day one you've been there and not everybody warms up to an alien as fast as you have. Is it money, publicity, a cruel game you're trying to pull?"

Lana's muzzle fell in shock before a small hiss and a growl formed within her. "I'm not trying to _pull _anything."

The feline gave the hybrid a look that could kill. "Oh really?"

"Yes." Lana countered, unaffected by the intimidating prowess of the panther. "Relics means a lot to me and since the day I've met him, I've wanted nothing more than to be his friend."

"So you're just leading him on then?" Chloe hiss quietly.

"What do you mean?" Lana asked, her claws coming out in response to the panther's already visible claws.

"You and I both know he has feelings for you. Are you just toying with him or are you really that oblivious?"

"It's… complicated." Lana admitted.

"What's so complicated about it? If you don't like him then get the Hell out of his life and if you do like him than stop leading him on!" Chloe said sharply but out of nowhere her tone turned softer, more compassionate (and a little less psycho). "He's crazy about you Lana, you've won! Every other girl out there has lost. All you'd have to do is ask and if you can't do that, maybe give him a taste of the goods?"

Lana's eyes grew wide at that comment. "I… I uh… what?"

"Wear a low cut shirt and a tight pair of pants! He's been cooped up for almost three months now; you can't tell me he isn't pent up and ready to burst." Chloe purred. "I'm just surprised he has had so much willpower to not bang all the girls who throws themselves at him."

"H-How many girls?" Lana asked, worried she had more competition than she could compete with.

"About a pocket full of panties with phone numbers written on them." Chloe reported. "Not one of them he didn't throw in the trash mind you, but he can't wait on you forever. He's tried to make a few moves on you but I've seen firsthand how things can get… interrupted."

'_Like that time Melina screwed everything up.'_ Lana thought sourly as she knew that would have been perfect if not for her old friend.

"It's so hard to get to be alone with him when everyone keeps on trying to get his attention. I've noticed that the girls at school have been coming around a lot lately, especially after he saved Christa that day." Lana admitted.

"You shouldn't worry about competition Lana." Chloe purred, patting the young woman on the paw when she put in down on her knee. "I mean, look at you! You've got the body, you're prettier than most other girls, and you've already left quite the impression on him."

"Thank you Mrs. Mahoney." Lana nearly whispered as Chloe's kind words were very heartening and quite unexpected after how this conversation started.

"Please," Chloe said as she poured herself another cup of tea, "call me Chloe."

"Okay Mrs. I mean Chloe." Lana said with a smile as this conversation had taken a turn for the better.

"So how good are you in bed?" Chloe asked making the conversation turn back to bad.

The minx immediately turned fifty shades of red. "I- I uh… I'm sorry?"

Chloe began to purr as she sipped some more tea. "I'm just gonna say that even if you go in sucking worse than a sheltered virgin, you'll probably be revered as a goddess in his eyes. He's probably blue balling down there something fierce."

Lana's heart hammered in her chest and the heat coming off of her Chloe could feel. "Chloe I… I don't know what to say."

Chloe smirked. "Oh come on, you've _never_ thought about it?"

"NO! Well… I mean- it's just that." Lana stammered awkwardly. "Once or twice." Lana admitted shamefully. "But what if he's all gross down there? I wouldn't mind if he had a normal one but what if it's like an animals or something?"

"He's not, I… sort of saw his medical dossier." Chloe admitted as she too started to turn a little bit red. "Humans are just like our boys… but he's a bit above average."

Lana's ears perked up. "Y-Yeah?"

The panther flashed her a grin. "Oh yes, you'll have some fun when you snatch him up."

The minx wiped some sweat from her forehead. "I uh… C-Chloe the reason I came here was because I was wondering if it would be okay if Relics came with me to beach sixty four."

"The year round open beach? My, my, my… just what have you got planned Lana?" Chloe purred and sipped more of her tea.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

'_I can't believe it worked. Just the slightest miscalculation or the smallest trip could have ruined everything.'_ Relics thought as the city rushed by. He adjusted himself in his seat and groaned as the bruises and cuts had yet to fully heal after last week's escapades….

Relics hit the ground with a softer than expected landing. The air rushed out of his lungs but that was the least of his worries. He was alive much to his surprise, and even more surprising still, he wasn't in that much pain. That is until somebody tore off his helmet and decked him so hard in the face that it knocked his lights out. Just before he fell under he saw that he was in somebody's car.

He awoke some time later before another punch to the face almost took him out.

"Sharp stop it! If you keep this up the plan will never work!" Cain hissed.

"I'm just making the story a bit more plausible." The man chuckled before punching Relics in the gut so hard that he coughed up a bit of blood.

"You fucker." Relics wheezed out, his eyes firmly clamped shut in pain.

"I saved your life from that fall and this is the thanks I get?" Sharp snarled before landing another hit in the human's stomach forcing more blood to come out through the human's mouth. "I should have let you die out there and I would have if you're worthless remains wouldn't have compromised the mission! Now the entire fucking alien race is looking for the god damned sniper, and we might not even be able to salvage the fucking mission!" Sharp shouted in the other man's face before throwing one more fierce punch into Relics' gut.

Relics cried out in pain as yet another gush of blood escaped his maw. He began coughing violently and started to black out as the pain became overbearing.

"So what do we do with him now?" Sharp asked.

"Miranda has his wrist com now and is making her way into the city. Our local support assures us that if we dump him and the wrist com with the tracking unit inside, off on some random ghetto street than whoever finds him will most likely take the blame for all his injuries and he'll have an alibi." The large hulking human Cain told the medium built Sharp.

Sharp nodded and looked to Relics. "You heard the plan right? When the authorities pick you up that's the story and you stick to that story because your life depends on it. As for us, we're not gonna help you anymore since we're going dark for a few weeks. Don't worry though, if you're still alive we'll be in touch. Sweet dreams." Sharp said before kicking Relics in the head, knocking him out cold….

'_Asshole.'_ Relics thought as he rubbed his head where the kick landed and a bruise formed. Due to the severe repercussions of his beating leaking out, his minor wounds were treated and most of the bruises were dulled away in color or they were completely removed.

Regardless, Relics hadn't been to school in that entire week and he was kept at home all day. He was starting to feel cooped up and restless but at least he still had his phone to call his friends. His punishment for sneaking out wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He was grounded and that meant no TV, video games, or other frivolous technological crap that some people couldn't live without. He was allowed to spend time with his friends and call them though as they didn't want to completely isolate him just for something that he didn't intend.

The worst part about his punishment though was Jason. For some reason, it felt as if they weren't bros anymore. The canine was often quiet, distant, and at other times cold. Relics understood that he was being tough and wasn't going to wane in reducing his punishment, but there was more to it. Jason lost his promotion because of him, and that promotion meant a lot to him. The warmth from Jason seemed to have cooled to a teasingly unidentifiable temperature, neither warm nor cold.

Since that night Jason had changed, but the change was not just in the canine. The young man felt something else change but it was inside of himself. He had killed; he had taken a life and then more. So many people now rested as cold corpses because of him. The realization that he was capable of taking life was the root of the revolution. Relics no longer saw himself as a child, but neither did he see himself a man. When he looked deep down and weighed the actions and deeds he had done in his life only to find something he didn't like.

A liar, a traitor, a killer, and a monster.

Every night he tossed in his bed reliving that night as he took their lives. It took just one kill and the rest were without hesitation. The question of how could he possibly turn from an average teenaged boy to a refined killer in just seconds wracked his brain every night. When he awoke from a barely managed rest he couldn't escape his actions. Chloe was the first to notice but within a few moments so too did his friends sense a change in him. No longer was he the quiet yet pleasing person that could somehow bring a smile to your face with his unique sense of humor; instead his pleasuring personality had shifted to absolute seclusion. His contributions to the days' conversations were minimal but had begun to grow in numbers, suddenly ceased altogether.

Everyone could see something was troubling him but no one could possibly understand why, as he would never be able to explain.

Another thing that bothered the human was his personal realization and acceptance that he loved somebody. That somebody being an alien and enemy of his people. He thought of her even more when his mind gave him reprieve from dwelling on what he did. Yet instead of the most desired feeling by all, he felt bitter and hate. Her gorgeous eyes, her adorable ears, her playful tail, her silken smooth fur, her enchanting voice, and her captivating personality did nothing to abate the foul mood he was drowning in. The reason being was he knew she'd never be his without it all ending badly someway.

"Are you hungry?" Jason asked suddenly which pulled Relics from his inner turmoil.

"No." Relics replied barely as loud as a saddened murmur.

"Alright." The canine said and drove past the quaint little diner he planned to pull into if Relics was in fact hungry.

A long while passed without anyone speaking despite Relics wishing to ask just one taunting question. When he finally plucked up the courage to ask he didn't expect an answer that Jason would say that would make him feel any better.

"Jason, are you mad at me?"

The German Sheppard inhaled deeply then sighed but made no effort to answer; he kept driving for several minutes more. When their home came into view and Relics had just about given up hope for salvaging their friendship, Jason replied.

"No Relics, I feel no different about you. I don't blame you for it either."

'_I wouldn't blame you if you did.'_ Relics thought but didn't say anything else.

"I'm sorry if you thought I was… I guess I have been kind of distant." Jason muttered as they pulled into the drive way but did not get out. "Truth is I am mad; I'm mad at myself. I'm supposed to be your guardian yet you could have been killed too many times now. You mean a lot to me kid, and I'd hate to lose you."

"I'd hate to lose you too, Jason."

The canine looked at Relics and patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get inside."

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"And guys like when you do that?" Lana asked as she wished she had a pen and paper to take notes with.

Chloe just looked at the minx and gave her a salacious smile. "They _love_ when you do that."

"Afternoon ladies, hope we're not interrupting anything sexy." Jason chuckled as he and Relics walked in the front door to see Lana and Chloe talking and sharing tea together. Chloe just gave Jason a serious look in return before getting a kiss on the lips.

"Hello Relics." Lana beamed and before she could do anything else but stand up the human wrapped his arms around her in a heartfelt embrace. Out of reaction she started to purr and hugged him back.

"It's good to see you Lana, you look really nice today." Relics said which only a couple of days ago his inner monologue would have chewed him out four hours after.

"Uh… thank you Relics." Lana said having not expected Relics' forward affection.

"Dear, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a few minutes?" Chloe asked as she grabbed Jason by the hand and led him out of the room regardless if he wanted to or not.

'_Engage seduction mode now, now, NOW!'_

"How've you been today Relics?" Lana asked as they sat down together on the couch.

"Pretty good, can't complain now that you're here." Relics smirked as he saw that he once again caught her off guard. Normally things didn't go this way, Relics was a bit of a turtle and had to be coaxed out of his shell but this time he was already well out and on the offensive.

"That's good, I'm glad I stopped by then." Lana purred. "Um… do you know how to swim?"

'_Oh I know how to "swim" if you know what I mean, especially doggy style- I mean dog paddle.'_

Relics shrugged. "I can keep myself from drowning if that's what you mean."

Lana's purr grew a bit louder as she giggled. "Well since you can swim, how'd you like to come with me to the beach… just the two of us?"

'_PRAISE GEE-ZUHS! PRAISE THE LORD-AH! THANK THE HEAVENLY FATHER BUDHA! THANK ALL THE GODS AND SEND THEM A GIFT BASKET!'_

"The two of us going to the beach without anyone else to get in the way… Lana. Are you asking me out?" Relics teased making Lana burn red.

"So what if I am?" The minx questioned with a bit of sass that made Relics' shiver excitedly.

"Are you?"

"How could somebody possibly misconstrue a girl asking a boy to take her to the beach where they'd be free from prying cameras since they're banned on several beaches?" Lana asked which only made the deal all the better.

'_I. Love. This. Girl.'_

Relics began to lean in so slowly that it was hardly noticed. "I can think of a few reasons. This would be our third date wouldn't it?"

"W-Well technically yes; but that second one was a fluke." Lana said only now noticing that the distance between them had somehow melted away and not even her acute perception noticed.

"Really? Just a fluke? I had hoped you enjoyed yourself more than that." Relics said rather brokenheartedly.

"I mean! It wasn't a bad fluke; we just wound up alone when Fox and Miyu ditched us to go have sex in their car." Lana said desperately trying to backtrack and undo the damage that she might have caused. "We _did_ have a lot of fun dancing."

"Yeah, we danced pretty… _close._" Said Relics, hinting at the fact that they accidently rubbed off against each other when they danced. Lana had caught the subtle hint and sweat began to run down the back of her neck through her now standing fur.

"You're not making this easy, you know that you big tease?" Lana growled playfully.

The human cocked an eyebrow. "You could always ask me to stop." He said inching even closer than before.

"Alright, would you stop being so difficult?" Lana asked and gave him a small push on his shoulder as she cast him another smile.

"Only if you ask nicely." Relics said with an emboldened suave in his voice.

The minx's red eyes squinted and she gave a low feline like growl. "Or I could always take some _other_ guy with me."

'_Ooh, didn't think of that. Quick! FIX IT, FIX IT, FIX IT!'_

"Oh really?" Relics asked scooting closer. "I'd like to see that."

'_That's the complete fucking opposite of fixing it!'_

"You don't think I won't?" Lana challenged and grabbed her phone. "I could call up any guy right now and take _him_ instead."

"But you won't, you know why?"

Lana bit her bottom lip upon realizing that Relics was only a few inches away. She started to draw back, not because she was uncomfortable, but because she didn't want Chloe and Jason to walk in on them so close. Yet for every inch she took back, Relics took two forward. It was a hunt and the thrill of it got her heart beating.

"Why?" Lana asked, her body moving back and she found herself nearly lying down on the couch.

"You've come this far, you've got me alone, and you're not the kind of person to just give up. Am I right?" Relics asked now hovering over the laying down minx.

Lana's eyes widened and she tried not to think of how red she must be. "I… you… yes."

For a moment, Relics looked around to check if the coast was clear. He smiled. "You know, I've been wanting to ask you something for… for a long time now."

'_That got her; I think I can literally hear her heartbeat now.'_

"Y-You have?" Lana stuttered as her enticing chest began to rise faster and faster as she took in quicker breaths.

The human's gentle hands moved the hair out of the minx's eyes and she shivered. "Lana… I was wondering if you… are ticklish?"

"Wha?" The minx asked, her fantasy being snapped in half and her sides erupted into a delightful torture. "AH STOP! STOP IT RELICS!" Lana screamed excitedly as she began to laugh uncontrollably.

Lana attempted to resist but Relics was too quick and efficient. Every time she moved to block him off he'd instantly move to another exposed and sensitive area to his expert tickling. Never did he think or even attempt to cop a feel or something perverse, he just kept at it tormenting her lovingly even if she didn't realize why. Eventually Relics let up, both of them laughing and enjoying each other's company.

Lana looked up to Relics and smiled sweetly. "I am _so_ taking someone else now." Once more, Relics cocked an eyebrow and made a move as if he was going to tickle her again but she squealed playfully. "Kidding, kidding! Please don't tickle me again."

"Well, since you said please…" Relics shrugged.

Lana groaned and knew she'd have to play his little game for this to work. "Relics, would you _please_ come with me to the beach, swim in the ocean with me, and lay on the beach?"

'_Hey… hey! I know you! I own you! Don't do it! Don't do what I know you're going to do! Don't you fucking do it-'_

"Would I get to rub lotion on your back too?"

'_FUCK! YOU- YOU… ARGH! WHY NOT JUST ASK TO VIOLATE HER WITH YOUR DICK YOU DUMB BASTARD! ARGH!'_

The smiling minx instantly turned into a glaring and wrathful looking hybrid. Relics saw the abrupt mood swing and grew concerned. His chances of spending the day with seemed to have all but disappeared, that is until she cracked a smile.

"You'll have to earn that when we get there." She laughed bringing much relief to the human.

"I could earn it now." Relics threatened and moved to tickle her again but she flinched and covered her vulnerable sides.

"Actually," She hummed and then dove at Relics knocking him off of her and pinning him down on the couch, "I think it's time for some payback."

Relics' eyes shot open wide and he struggled with all his might to get away but Lana easily enough held him down while staying on top. He bucked, squirmed, and pushed with all his might yet the minx still would not fall off.

'_That's… kind of really hot if you think about it.'_

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" She teased as she moved her free hand down to his exposed side now that she had both his arms pinned down.

"Okay, you are really, really strong." Relics laughed nervously.

'_Oh my God.'_ Relics thought as he looked up at the seductive look she gave him as she gazed down at him. _'She's so beautify- OH MY GOD!'_

"Okay! OKAY! I'M SORRY!" Relics laughed as he fought even harder to get her off of him.

"Submit and I'll stop." Lana growled and laid off the tickling for a moment.

"Submit? Uh… okay I-" Relics started but was cut off.

"Don't you dare, boy! You submit now and it's Hell the rest of your life!" Jason barked as he and Chloe came in to referee the competition. "She's looking for dominance and if you give in you belong to her."

Relics furrowed his brow at her. "Are you now? Sorry sweetie but Relics McCloud is nobody's bitch."

"Did you just call me swee- no you don't!" Lana snapped and attempted to hold the rebellious human but he had accumulated too much momentum when she was distracted.

The game of submission and tickling suddenly turned into a wrestling match on the floor; not a violent one but a very competitive and hot wrestling match. It got so intense that Chloe had to stop them because she felt they'd ruin the sanctity of the only rug in that house that she and Jason had done it on.

"Okay you two, enough of that. If you want to get there before the day's up… stop that!" Chloe hissed when they wouldn't stop and resorted to playfully snapping at each other in the face while rubbing up against each other on the floor. To them there was nothing intimate involved, neither one was trying to be the submissive was all.

"We'll call this a draw." Lana growled in Relics' face as they both gave each other seemingly serious glares, but the two could see the humor in the other's eyes.

"Whatever." Relics said getting up before she could and offered her a hand. "Draw is just nice way of saying there was no way you could have won anyway."

"Why you-" Lana hissed but Chloe quickly led her away before round two could start.

Relics cocked a half smile as he watched her walk away while sticking her tongue out at him. "She's fun."

"Looks like a handful too." Jason chuckled. "You watch yourself around her though; minxes have been known to kill a man during intercourse." The soldier said when he was sure the two were well out of earshot.

'_Sounds like I'd die happier than I ever have been. I don't know what it is, but being around her levels me out somehow. When I'm with her, I don't feel like a bad person.'_ Relics realized as this was the first time in a week that he'd smiled or had this much fun.

"Uh… Jason. I feel stupid for asking but-"relics began but Jason had already interpreted what he was getting at.

"You want some… _advice_?" Jason asked as he gave Relics a devious grin.

'_God damn it, I knew this was a terrible idea.'_ The human realized a little too late before he had Jason patting on the couch to sit next to him.

"I've been with a few girls before so I know some stuff, but I don't know if that all applies to Cornerian girls." Relics defended.

"I understand. I'm not judging you. I understand you're a little curious about Cornerian girls now." Jason assured and cleared his throat. "Now, let's start with the basics. When you stimulate-"

'_Oh God no.'_

"-a feline, panther, tiger, lion or any kind of feline, they are a little tough to get going but they get off like rapid fire when you get them there. Now as for vixens you can get them bothered and hot just by looking at them right and they'll be tearing your clothes off. Once you get them to start gushing-"

'_Oh fuck… this is hard to listen to. It's like sex education all over again but this time with your best friend as the teacher.'_

"- they practically explode. What you have there," Jason said pointing towards where Lana and Chloe walked off to, "is a girl who, with the right stimulation, will have a dozen ungodly orgasms like rapid fire. I doubt that asshole Wolf guy knew what he was doing or he'd never have let her go because only like one out of every other minx ever born never grew up to be a nymphomaniac." Jason briefed.

Something inside of Relics clicked and he removed his mental sunglasses. _'Mother of God.'_

"So, minxes climax a lot and really hard… is that what you're saying?"

"Exactly. You're almost a sure in to have her want to be your mate for life."

"Can you offer any other tips?" Relics found himself asking suddenly.

"Sure. Girls love when you play with their tails, don't play favorites with their "girls", and always, always ask before you give them a facial. It's Hell getting it out of their fur and if they say yes they can be mad at you later. Heaven help you if you get it in their hair though. Another thing- oh hey babe, ready to go?" Jason asked when Chloe and Lana came back.

'_Thank God, I almost threw up for a moment there.'_ Relics thought. It wasn't the discussion that distressed him, it was who he was having it with that disturbed him.

"You're coming with?" Relics asked, a bit worried that they'd cramp his style and get in the way of the perfect opportunity to finally ask Lana to be his girl.

"Have to ever since last week. Don't worry though, we'll be somewhere we can see you but can't see us." Jason assured but Relics wasn't too sure about that answer.

'_Kinda creeping a bit there, Jason.'_

"Ready to go?" Lana asked and did a little stationary skip that made her breasts jiggle and bounce as per Chloe's advice.

'_We have to get out of here- NOW!'_ Relics' mind reported as he felt himself grow a bit stiff in some places with no indication there was going to be a slowdown.

"I uh… I gotta go grab some things." Relics said but was already halfway up the stairs before he finished so he wouldn't finish all over his pants.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"Looks like we're in luck." Jason said as he pulled into the beach's parking lot. "Not too many people are here today so we won't have to fight for a spot!"

'_These people are _crazy!_'_ Relics thought in disbelief as he saw Cornerians of all species running around in all kinds of bathing suits and happily swimming in the most likely freezing ocean as it was the middle the end of fall and beginning of winter.

The car slowly made its way through the parking lot until it found the perfect parking spot under some palm trees in the shade. Relics zipped up his jacket to the top so that way he wouldn't get blasted by autumn's breath the second he got out of the car, yet to his surprise he got the sudden urge to take it off.

"Oh my God it's hot out here!" Relics gapped as he began to sweat heavily.

The human quickly took off all his extra layers until he reached his white T-shirt. The beach was a beautiful sight. The sand was a bright tan color, the ocean was a deep blue, not a single cloud in the sky, there were several people on the beach and in the water, and a long pier led far out into the water.

"Well yeah," Lana purred, "it's a year round beach. We alter the climate and temperature so we can come here any time."

"By we, you mean your parents own it and have it operated yearly." Jason said under his breath.

'_Lana's parents own a weather controlling device? JACKPOT!'_

"See you two around, we'll be over by the pier if you need us." Chloe waved as she led Jason towards the sandy beach with their arms wrapped around each other.

"I'm going to go get changed, see you in a bit." Lana said and flashed him her amazing smile which made him root to the spot.

"O-Okay…" Relics said and couldn't help but stare at the minx's swinging backside, almost as if she was doing it deliberately, calling to him almost. Her skinny jeans were so tight on her, it was amazing she still had circulation past the waist, and her tail moved like in a teasing manner, letting him catch a glimpse before moving in the way of his greedy eyes.

'_Dat… ass…'_ Relics groaned in his mind before Lana disappeared into the girls' changing room. _'Oh crap! Quickly now, get to the changing room before it's too late… GO, GO, GO!'_

With Lana's seductive walk still in her mind, Relics quickly scampered to the boy's changing room with his bag covering himself just in case. As he made his way to the changing rooms, he had to keep his eyes fixed on it or else they'd wander to all the bikini clad women around. If he wasn't so concerned with getting out of sight, he'd have easily seen that today was a good day to be a guy looking for a girl on the beach as it was a two to one ratio today. It would have been especially good for Relics if he hadn't already had his eyes on someone special, as many girls were eyeing him.

He made it into the changing room and quickly switched into his swimming trunks and hastily stowed his other clothes and his bag back in the black SUV.

'_Lana, Lana, Lana… where did you get off- holy shit…'_

The young man's life suddenly had purpose as he watched the minx casually walk towards him. Her body swayed left and right, her tan fur glimmered and shone in the warm sun, and her entire body was on display as only a blood red bikini covered her amply sized breasts and just below her waist.

The few guys around all stopped and stared even if they were with someone, but they could stare all they want because she was not heading in any of their direction. She walked with a small skip in her step that made her already rocking tits jiggle so provocatively that it took every ounce of his willpower not to grow a little bit stiff.

'_If I wasn't the unluckiest man in the world, I'd be the luckiest.'_ Relics found himself thinking again. _'I swear to God, if I ever make her mine there's nothing in this universe that would make my life better. That and I'd slam that fine ass body of hers down on the nearest flat surface every night and slam that pussy… cat until she hates it… okay I meant the other one. BUT STILL!'_

Relics let off a nervous chuckle. "H-Hey Lana. You look amazing."

Lana flashed him another smile. "You like it? I got it last year and I hoped you'd like it."

'_The only thing that would turn me on more would be you, spread out on my bed, naked, and with a roll of condoms dangling from your mouth. And I'd use every SINGLE ONE!'_

"I doubt there's a single thing you could wear that I wouldn't like." Relics admitted.

"Come on; let's go find a spot before we go swimming." Lana purred as she grabbed his arm and led him towards the beach leaving every other guy speechless.

Relics looked around at all the girls at the beach and looked back to Lana. "You know, you're the hottest girl here?"

"Stop it Relics." Lana giggled and bumped him with her hip as they walked. "You're making me blush."

'_And I'd love to make you gush- okay! That's it, crossed the line. Down libido, down!'_ Relics ordered, not wanting to ruin this special day.

The two set down in the middle of the beach, laid out their towels, and stuck the umbrella in the ground to give them some shade. Before Relics could lie down in the shade, Lana was pulling him to the beach.

"Come one lazy, let's go swimming!" Lana moaned.

Relics rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay." He groaned and fell back when Lana let go. She ran off giggling and throwing up sand with every step. "Oh you're going to get it, Lana!" Relics growled and chased after her.

Dodging a few people, Relics managed to get to the ocean just as Lana had made it fifteen feet out into the water. The human took one step in and jumped back for no reason. The water was warm but he expected it to be freezing cold. Shrugging, Relics charged into the ocean that threw up a wave to hinder him from his target. The salty water splashed over him and he threw himself forward and dove into the water taking the subaquatic course.

Lana swam out about thirty feet until she figured she made a far enough lead. She turned around still laughing from her prank but couldn't see where he'd gotten off to. For a second her heart skipped a beat as she thought that he really didn't know how to swim and drowned. Giving into her imagination, Lana swam back until her feet could touch the wet sand underneath.

"R-Relics?" Lana mewed and was ready to cry out for help when suddenly her knees gave out from under her and she felt her body being lifted up into strong arms. The minx let out a scream before she fell under with the strong arms still gripping her tightly. A second later she came back up sputtering and brushing the hair out of her eyes. She let out a low growl when she heard laughter.

"Gotcha." Relics grinned at the pouting minx. "Aw, don't be mad, Lana."

"I'm not mad." Lana pouted and looked away folding her arms.

"Aw… you're so cute when you pout." Relics sniggered.

A sinister glimmer sparked in the minx's eyes as she glared up at the grinning human. She lashed out and wrapped her arms around Relics' neck, throwing him off balance and causing him to fall back into the water. He made the mistake of letting go and Lana used his confusion to her advantage by putting him in a headlock and hauling him back out.

"I wasn't pouting, I was thinking of the best way to make you submit." Lana growled and tightened her grip on him but wouldn't cut off the blood to his brain or his breathing.

"You still on about that? Well, you'll find I'm full of surprises." Relics growled back before he grabbed her wrists and used all his strength to throw her over his shoulder. She yelped in shock and found herself back in the water.

'_Oh crap, maybe I overdid that.'_ Relics thought worriedly when she didn't come back up when suddenly he felt his ankles lurch and he fell backwards right back where he started.

He sat up in the water when he felt a pair of legs wrap around his torso and a pair of arms run under his arms around his neck into a full Nelson. "Nice try cutie, but I know how to ride wild stallions who don't know their place."

'_There is not a verb, noun, or syllable that she just said that didn't turn me on.'_ Relics realized but kept his mind in the fight.

The human sighed deeply. "Oh girl, you're pretty stubborn aren't you?"

"I don't know how to give up if that's what you mean." Lana purred and gnawed his shoulder.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Relics yelped as he felt Lana's frisky biting ran up and down his shoulder and neck. The sensation sent shivers running down his spine and he nearly lost it. He fell back and rolled around underwater trying to free himself but Lana would not let go. He came up briefly but frequently so she could breathe but that just that only encouraged her to hold on. Eventually he grew tired and had to rest for a moment but she Lana was still brimming with energy.

"So stallion, tired already?" Lana purred and nibbled on his ear.

'_What is she doing? I love it but this is so strange! Sexy, but strange!'_

"I was just letting you breathe for a little bit before I did this!" Relics snapped and waded out further and sat down. With their combined weight they sank straight to the bottom and stayed there. After a few seconds her grip began to fade and their lungs began to start asking for new air. More time went by and Lana couldn't take it anymore and she let go so she could resurface.

'_Round two starts now, babe.'_ Relics thought and followed her up.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics and Lana washed up on shore in a sudden surging wave, both laughing and both dead tired. The red eyed minx was purring loudly and put her hand on his chest.

"I'm pinning you, I win." Lana meowed.

Relics gave her a stern look before he put his hand on hers. "I'm pinning you pinning me, _I_ win."

"Get off me, you brute!" Lana laughed and quickly jumped up and padded back to their spot and lied down in the shade.

"Get back here, Lana." Relics grunted and took off after her.

Lana saw him coming and kicked her legs at him while squealing excitedly. Before he got close he tripped over his own feet because of how tired he was. Lana stopped kicking her legs and froze as Relics fell onto her, barely managing to keep himself from crushing her by throwing his arms out and catching himself.

"Hey there." Relics growled.

"Hey." Lana said smiling back at him. Her wandering eyes drifted to his body hovering over her and gazed at his toned body. Another small blush grew on her face and she had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him.

"I caught you." Relics purred as he stared down at her having to resist the urge to reach out and touch her. "What did I win?"

Lana looked away and hid her smile with her hands. "I can think of a few things."

'_Boing.'_

"Oh yeah?" Relics asked leaning in a bit. "Give me an example."

Lana giggled. "Okay." She said before she reached up, grabbed him by the shoulders and rolled him over

'_Oh God yes.'_ Relics thought and readied himself for anything but found himself disappointed when she got off and reached into her bag. _'Aww… oh!'_

"Cotton candy?" Lana purred as she handed him a bag that he greedily accepted. "Hey! Aren't you going to share?"

"Umm, no. No I'm not." Relics shrugged and opened the bag but his heart melted when he looked back. The minx's pupils were dilated to the max and she was giving him the cutest pouting look ever. "Aw… that's so cute, Lana."

With that cute look burned into his mind, Relics found it inside himself to share and they rested for a half an hour before they went out and actually swam instead of wrestled. They stayed in the ocean for so long Relics began to get a little pruned but luckily Lana thought they should get out and eat a little. There were a few restaurants nearby that allowed wet and soggy people to eat outside in the gazeboes and outdoor tables so they didn't have to wait to eat.

"I'm having a great time Lana, thanks for settling for me." Relics sighed as they sat at a table and waited for their food to come.

"What do you mean settle?" Lana asked as she sipped at her soda like beverage.

"Well you could have taken anyone else, Fox, Bill, Fara, Miyu, but you chose me instead."

Lana looked away and smiled meekly. "Well… maybe I wanted to go with you the more than everyone else? Maybe… you were the only person I wanted to share the day with?"

'_God I love her.'_

"Then maybe I'm the luckiest guy on Corneria?" Relics suggested catching her gorgeous eyes.

"Even after getting hit by a car and being jumped by a gang?" Lana questioned.

"When I get to be with you all that doesn't matter." Relics countered which caused her to look away and blush once more.

'_Why is he doing this to me? Why must he keep torturing me like this? Just ask! If you would only just ask me I'd say yes in a heartbeat!'_ Lana thought with her heart aflutter with longing and desire. _'Why do you think I would set this all up? Us being alone on the beach, playing, wrestling, talking… please just ask before the suspense kills me!'_

Luckily before her heart could burst, their food arrived and took their minds off the mounting pressure and drama of being so close yet unable to do anything about it. Only small talk was exchanged while they ate because they were so hungry after all that horsing around in the ocean. Once they were done they walked back to the car and Relics reached into the back to pull out a surprise of his own.

"Relics? When did you bring that?" Lana gapped as she gawked at the long, sleek, and hard piece of wood Relics was holding in his hand.

"I snuck it out during that one split second you had your back turned to me." Relics smirked before strumming on his acoustic guitar.

"Well aren't you the sly one?" Lana purred and became lost in the music Relics so effortlessly played.

"I'm a smooth criminal, baby." Relics said and kept playing while he walked with Lana back to their spot.

His music attracted much of the beach's attention and every stopped and stared to listen in. Not liking to sing, Relics simply played the song Holiday by the Scorpions. He paused for a second as he sat back down and immediately continued playing a second after. The minx was completely hypnotized by the music that she spoke not a word and laid down next to him so she could watch. He looked at her and smiled before he cleared his throat.

"Let me take you far away, you'd like, a Holiday…" He sang quietly so that only people close could hear and enjoy. His singing voice was good but it wasn't good enough to warrant a record deal by any measure. The human sang the entire song but kept it rather calm despite the gnawing urge to go all out and release his passion.

When he finished he was given a long applause by the spectators to which he thanked for their praise.

"That was amazing, Relics." Lana sighed. "What was it called?"

"Holiday, by the Scorpions." Relics replied getting lost in her stunning red eyes. "You look so beautiful."

"Thank you, Relics." She whispered back but felt very let down despite his compliment. She longed for him to ask; say the sweet question.

'_Why won't you ask? Do you… do you really not love me as I thought you did? Are we really only ever going to be friends?'_

"Oh… my God!" A loud feminine, yet at the moment very annoying voice broke the tension of the two.

Relics and Lana looked over to see what had suddenly caught the attention of every guy on the beach. A red robin wearing what barely qualified as a bikini that barely concealed any of her massive breasts started walking over towards the two. Her body was as amazing as Lana's only with feathers, a beak, and her breasts were bigger.

"Oh… hey Melina." Lana struggled to say with a smile still on her face.

"Lana girl, how long you been here with… Relics?" Melina asked giving the human a wink.

"Since noon. Did you just get here?" Lana asked wishing that Melina had never been born at the moment.

"I only just got here, some of my friends were gonna swing by and spend the day here." The robin said and sat right next to the human. "You guys been swimming yet?"

"Yeah, we swam for a good three hours." Lana said sitting up. "We were having a pretty good time too."

'_Until your bitch ass got here.'_ Relics and Lana thought simultaneously.

"So… you two…?" Melina giggled giving them a sly look.

"N-No, we're just hanging out." Relics stammered.

"Yes it's just my way of saying thanks for what he did for me a while back." Lana said referring to the night she was kidnapped.

"That's cool. Hey Relics, you mind coming with me? I need your help getting something heavy out of my car. I'll only need to borrow you for a few minutes." The avian chirped.

'_Aw fuck.'_ Relics groaned but got up anyways.

"I'll be right back, Lana." Relics said over his shoulder as he followed the bird back to her car.

As they made their way through the parking lot, Relics noticed a group of six burly and somewhat angry looking guys heading towards the beach. Shrugging it off, Relics kept following her all the way to the very back of the parking lot to a car that made his jaw drop. It resembled a Ford GT-five hundred but had a convertible roof.

"It's in the back." Melina said motioning for Relics to step ahead of her. The human went ahead and pulled the handle but it didn't open. "Sorry, let me unlock the door." Melina giggled and pressed a button on the remote attached to her keys.

'_Yeah that might help you stupid- WHAT THE FUCK!'_

Relics felt his body almost painfully pressed against the car and turned around. Melina's soft hands began to run all around his body and she pressed her massive breasts against his chest.

"You know, you don't have to settle for _her_." Melina moaned. "She's cute and a good enough person, but you don't want someone like her."

'_I have never wanted to hit a woman more than I do now in my entire life.'_ Relics thought.

"What do you mean?" Relics growled trying to push her away but Melina pushed back rubbing up on him and brushed her legs against his.

"She might seem nice now, but back when she was going out with… _Wolf_, she did a lot of things that only her parents' money could keep her from going to jail." Melina cooed.

Relics blinked. "W-What?"

"She and Wolf would go around beating the shit out of people all the time; they beat them to the point that they had to go to the hospital sometimes. It got so bad that she was expelled from her last school, why do you think that a girl as rich as her has to go to a shitty public school?"

"But you're her friend, Fox, Miyu, Fara, everyone else is her friends." He countered.

"We all pitied her. For nearly six months she was all alone getting beat up every other week by girls she once kicked the crap out of. One day she tried to commit suicide and we all decided to-" Melina was saying but was cut off.

Relics shoved her away and glared at her. "You shut your God damn beak. I don't know what you're trying to do by lying to me like this, but I want you to stop. Thing is, I don't even know you, so I'm not going to believe some random chick that comes around bad mouthing my best friend."

Melina glared at the human but her eyes softened a moment later. "Okay, I'm sorry. I should've expected you to go into denial. I was just giving you a fair warning before you decided to go out with a girl more damage than a shattered mirror. When you come to realize what kind of person she really is," the avian said and handed him a card, "give me a call."

Relics took the card only to crumple it up and throw it away. "Whatever. Stay away from us."

The bird sighed as Relics walked off back to the beach fuming with rage. She was lucky she was born a woman or she'd have a fat lip right now. He tried to put it behind him so he wouldn't alert Lana of the fact that her friend was a two faced bitch.

'_I can't believe she said those things. Lana is too nice a person to do those things. Even if she went out with Wolf, I just know that-'_

The human's thoughts were suddenly cut short when he saw something that made his mind shutoff. Those six guys that he saw earlier were corning a frightened looking minx. The leader advanced on her, his voice raised but incomprehensible over the ocean's voice. The frightened minx seemed to say something when suddenly his hand lifted and struck Lana across the face sending her to the floor. Then everything went black.


	33. The Past Still Haunts Us

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ Okay guys, before we start I have to run something by you real quick. Star Fox Exchange Student: The Un-canon Chronicles. Just what is it exactly? Well, basically it's ES but uninvolved with the plot. There will be parts with romance, humor, ridiculousness, and things that just didn't quite make it into the canon. If you want something like this, don't put it in the review, rather go to my profile page and vote on it. Voting ends the first of September, thanks in advance for the votes and I hope you enjoy today's chapter but… ke, ke, ke. You'll see.**_

_**So yeah, vote and also check out the awesome picture of Lana I drew, yes I've said this twice before but I took those crummy pics down and put up my best work yet!**_

"UGH!" Lana scowled as she threw up her hands and fell back onto the towel she had laid out for her and Relics. Only problem was it suddenly turned from just her and Relics to herself, Relics, and Melina. Sure Melina was her friend and all, but God damn that girl had to work on her timing. Once again a tender moment was ruined and a chance for their relationship to take off was fouled.

'_Okay, calm down. She's been your friend since middle school even through all the bad parts.'_ Lana thought to herself in order to keep herself from putting a stranglehold on the robin while holding her head in the ocean and until she was pruned. '_When they get back I'll just get her alone, ask her to take a hike, and then maybe things will get back on track. We're so close I just know it.'_

The minx purred as she could just imagine Relics coming back without Melina. His body was shining in the sun with sweat, his eyes reflecting the sun's light its light and his love into hers. Lana shivered as he took her hand in his and pulled her up, wrapping her in his glistening strong arms. He didn't say anything because he didn't have to. She knew what was coming, and she had wanted it for so long. He began drawing in close just like back on the couch, only this time he'd confess his love and they'd share their first kiss. The human's arm moved to her waist, pulling her closer creating a surprised mew from the minx which in turn generated an amused smile from the young man. He beckoned in slowly, wanting to take his sweet time which only made Lana's mind scream and cry out for him to cast aside his ship teasing. Then finally at long last his lips pressed against hers and she let off a little muffled mew of delight as she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him in tighter until their lips were mashing together. For too long he had held out on her, and now she had him all to herself.

Her mind kept thinking of this until a shadow was cast over her, blocking the warm sun she was bathing in. She opened her eyes expecting to see Relics or Melina, but when her eyes fell onto the torn and scarred face of a corgi she knew, she froze. His ears were frayed beyond repair and his face bore several scars that killed the fur that would have grown there. One scar ran down his face across his left eye and the wound had long ago turned his eye into a dead looking blue color, very different from the beautiful sea blue right eye that remained uninjured.

"Hello, Lana." The corgi growled as his friends encircled her.

"L-Lucas?!" Lana gasped and made a move to run but she realized she was surrounded.

"Surprised to see me?" Lucas asked giving her a sneering smirk. "I'm sure you remember Kenneth, Seth, Michel, Takushi, and Belmont, right?"

Lana let out a small frightened meow as Lucas reached down and rather painfully grabbed her by the wrist and hauled her up. He refused to let go no matter how much she struggled but for some reason she did not scream. People could see her in distress but all six of the guys surrounding Lana easily outsized everyone around so they chose to stay out of it for their own sakes.

"What are you doing?" Lana asked and finally managed to slip through his grasp. "Stop this, please!"

"Why should we?" Kenneth, a large swine asked.

"Did you stop when we begged _you_ to stop? Did either you or Wolf even give it a second thought before you tore my ears to shreds?!" The corgi Lucas barked loudly.

"That wasn't me, that was Wolf-" Lana whimpered as tears formed in her eyes.

"He was _your_ boyfriend and all you did was egg him on!" The feline Seth snapped.

The minx opened her muzzle as if to say something but she couldn't think of anything to say that would mean something to them. She slowly started to back away but they matched her step for step: like wolves on the hunt they followed her.

"Please, I'm sorry. I realized long ago that what I did was wrong, I've tried so hard to become a better person-" Lana explained but the disgruntled young men wouldn't have it.

"A better person? How can you sleep at night after what you did to us? You made our lives Hell, now we're here to return the favor. Now where is he?" Lucas demanded.

'_No! Not Relics!'_ Lana thought as she desperately tried to come up with a story that would save him from this, the side of her she tried to leave in the past.

"Where's who? I came here by myself." Lana lied to which Lucas let out a harsh growl nearly knocking the minx down in fright.

"Don't lie to us!" Lucas snapped. "We were told you and Wolf were here and we're not leaving to we make you both pay for what you did."

"W-Wolf?" Lana stuttered. "Wolf and I broke up over a year ago! Please! I can't express how sorry I am for what I did, and I know in my heart that I could never ask you to forgive me or even begin to hope you'd ever forgive me, but I know you're better than this Lucas, I know you're all better than this. That's why we chose you guys the most, that is why we tormented and bullied you so much back then. Wolf and I both knew how much better you all which is why we took it out on you. We wanted to bring you down to our level, make ourselves feel better with how terrible we really were."

At first Lana's words seemed to have done something, calmed the six men down. That is until she felt the hard blow fall across her face sending her to the sandy beach floor. She groaned as she rubbed her face and spittle of blood leaked from her mouth. Tears were now flowing freely and she prayed that Relics was going to go get help.

"Hey, Lucas. Come on man, she's a chick." The rabbit Belmont said stepping in but Lucas pushed him away.

"This is the fucking bitch that helped put us all in the hospital at some point, Belmont! She-" Lucas shouted just before a white blur slammed across his face.

Lana's eyes widened as Lucas went flying towards the ground a few feet away. She looked to see what caused it and almost started to cry.

"Relics, get out of here!" She mewed but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

The human was in pure rage and he wouldn't stop for any reason. Disregarding the others that didn't strike Lana, Relics pounced on the dazed and much larger corgi. Lucas struggled to block the human's fists as they rained down on his face, each with more force than the last. Lucas's friends were stunned by what they were seeing. The human who was maybe half their size was taking on their leader like he was a little bitch. Finally Lucas managed to throw Relics off and get back on his feet. He looked to his friends and spat a bit of blood.

"Let's kick the shit outta this asshole." He growled before he rushed the human. Little did he realize that his friends weren't rushing with him as they came face to face with an opponent that no amount of muscle would save them from.

"I suggest you stay right where the fuck you are." Jason growled as he stood between them and Lana with his gun drawn.

"Jason!" Lana gasped before she felt soft hands help her up.

"Are you okay, Lana?" Chloe asked worriedly as she held the minx in her arms.

"I-I'm fine, but Relics needs our help!" She mewed.

Jason growled in his throat. "No, this is something he wants to do himself. Even if we did step in and help, he wouldn't see us as friends at the moment, I can tell by that look in his eyes. He's got his mind set on killing him."

Lucas threw a heavy swing at Relics' face but he was already moving before the swing. His retaliation came swift, right to the canine's lower muzzle, or rather the jaw; weakening the bone and making the corgi throw a blind left hook. Relics put up his right arm, shielding him from the heavy hit and then put all his weight into his left's next hit and thanks to his last hit he heard a sickening pop that only excited him more.

"Mur fuckern zaw!" He said with the best his ability with a fractured jaw while at the same time holding it, but that opened him up for another attack.

The human's instincts took over and he struck with intense savagery. First he attacked the soft kidneys making the corgi grunt with pain, then the sternum while he was hunched over to get him to stand back up straighter, a quick jab back at the canine's jaw to halt any efforts of retaliation, and then the finisher. Relics balanced himself on his left leg and shrank his body inwards like a ball before releasing his potential energy and right heel into the dog.

Relics inhaled deeply and let the Zen flow through him but he suddenly groaned in pain and rubbed his eyes. To most people it looked like he simply got sand in his eyes, but for the three people that knew about his enhancements, they knew that they were reaching their limits. If he kept using them he'd lose his eyesight.

'_Don't stop now, he must pay, he hurt Lana!'_ Relics told himself and shook off the pain's crippling effects. He readied himself but the pain came back redoubled as a nasty deck to the face knocked him to the ground.

The human reacted on instinct, he rolled away but due to the hindering sand he only managed to get a few feet away which kept him within Lucas's range. The corgi snarled and swung at the human's head again but missed as Relics ducked under it. He was not quick enough to avoid the large claw like hand that clamped down on Relics' collar bone and held him while a savage barrage struck his ribs. Relics let out a low scream of pain but stomped on the canine's leg making it buckle and created enough time for Relics to escape.

Relics groaned with every rapid breath as he held his side with his left hand and held out his right to ward off any surprise attacks. He literally felt like his ribs had caved in around his lungs and organs but he shrugged off the pain as best he could.

'_I can't take another hit like that or I'm done for.'_ Relics thought as he slowly backed off while examining his growling opponent. It took most of his willpower to let go of his side but when he did the canine struck again, this time using his feet.

Relics shielded his eyes from the cloud of sand that the corgi kicked up but he couldn't see the next attack. The human let out a loud cry as Lucas once again struck his already injured right side. A loud bone popping sound was heard and Relics was so staggered by the blow that he collapsed to the ground coughing and cursing under his breath.

"RELICS!" Lana cried out and fought against Chloe's grasp to run to his side.

"Lana no, you can't! That bastard will- Lana no!" Chloe yelled as the minx had managed to break free and ran to Relics.

"You should have stayed out of this, I didn't want to hurt you but I will if you get in my way!" The corgi growled and stepped on Relics' chest, pinning him down to the sandy ground. "Stay down and I won't hurt you any more than I'm about to that damned minx-"

"STOP IT!" Lana screamed and threw her entire being into the hardest punch she ever threw. The hit connected with the large man's right temple and sent him stumbling back and off Relics. Forgetting everything else, Lana immediately moved to Relics' side. "Relics, are you okay?" She cried as she cradled his head in her lap.

"I'm fine, I can take him. Get back!" Relics hissed as he struggled to get up but Lana wouldn't have it.

"Relics please, he's going to tear you apart!" She said keeping him down. "This is all my fault and he only wants me. Just stay here and I'll take care of it."

The minx gently let him back down and sighed. Without another word she stood up and slowly walked towards the roaring beast. She was determined to protect him, to return the favor for the time he saved her life. Besides, Lucas was a monster that she created through years of bullying and abuse. Most everything that went wrong in his life, as well as the five other men's lives, was in some way her fault. She and Wolf were merciless to them, did such cruel things to them and so many others, that whatever Lucas was about to do to her was hardly the minimum of what she deserved. Deep in her heart she believed she deserved everything about to come to her, and possibly even more.

"Jason, do something!" Chloe pleaded.

The German Shepard turned the gun towards the hulking dog moving towards Lana but his friends immediately rushed for him, forcing the soldier to return his aim to them which barely caused them to freeze in their tracks. He was powerless to help Lana as it took his undivided attention to keep the five under wraps.

"Please, leave him out of this." Lana begged as she put herself between the two young men.

Lucas glared at the hybrid with his one good eye. "No, I don't let anybody who hurts me get away with it anymore. Once I'm done with you, your little boyfriend is next."

"I'll do anything, just don't hurt him!" Lana begged just before she was about to be struck once more.

"Too late Lana, four years too late." Lucas growled as he lifted his hand to strike but he met resistance.

He looked to his left and flinched as a blazing pair of eyes bore into him. He pulled his right arm back to hit the human but Relics beat him to the punch and went right for the canine's guts. Lucas grunted with pain and could do nothing as Relics laid into his sides with hit after hit. Finally Lucas managed to pull away but he stumbled and fell over backwards. Lucas quickly scrambled to his feet, body aching and stinging with pain all over.

"Touch her again, mutt… and I'll kill you." Relics said with such a calm voice that in no way matched the hot acid he was shooting through his eyes.

Lucas scoffed as he looked at the human. He was probably half his size, not the most muscular and would most likely go down with one more punch. He'd most likely go to jail for all this, the police were probably just seconds out, but he didn't care. Lana had to pay for everything she and Wolf did to him, and no human was going to stand in his way.

"Fine then, I'll rip through you and then your little girlfriend." Lucas chuckled and rushed the human.

"RELICS!" Lana cried out as watching the large canine run full sprint at Relics was like watching a train about to steamroll a car.

Lucas let out a growl as he pulled back and threw all his might into one crushing blow to the human's head but before he even made it halfway, the human ducked, as if he knew what was going to happen. It seemed like he always knew, like he could read his movements or something, which was why that punch was just a feint. Instead of swinging straight on, he hooked it around and his fist made a satisfying hit.

"Got you-" Lucas growled triumphantly before blood leapt from his muzzle.

Lucas believed that he managed to catch the human off guard, but the hit that he felt was Relics' left hand which he used to fend off the swing leaving the canine open for a counter attack. Relics caught Lucas so off guard that the fight was now over. Lucas was out cold before he even hit the ground. The human sighed and rubbed his itching eyes, thankful that the fight was over and he still had his eyesight. All over his body ached and stung as this fight was hard won. The toll made Relics' leg buckle and he started to fall when a warm body caught him.

Relics breathed deep through his nose, enjoying the scent of his holder. "You okay, Lana?"

The minx choked up for a bit, completely amazed that _he_ was asking _her_ if she was alright after everything he just went through. She helped him regain his balance before hugging him tighter.

"I love you." She whispered into his chest which distorted her words, rendering them incomprehensible to the human, but the love in her embrace was as understandable if she said it to his face.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"Your parents will be here in a little while, Lana." Chloe cooed softly to the minx sitting on her loveseat couch.

"Thank you Chloe." Lana purred before letting off a small adorable sneeze. The tan minx started shivering until a warm blanket wrapped around her. She looked up and saw it was the human who put it around her. She grinned sweetly at him as he sat next to her and handed her a cup full of hot tea. "Thank you Relics." She purred even louder and leaned against him.

The human smirked as her purr felt like a vibrating massage, and her intense warmth was soaking through the blanket and splashing on to him.

"What are you doing?" Relics chuckled as Lana wrapped her arm around him, until he realized that she was covering him with the blanket and snuggling even closer to him. The two shared a laugh before Lana began to playfully gnaw on his arm. "Hey!"

"You taste good! Nom!" Lana purred and bit down on his forearm, her teeth sinking into his skin but not painfully.

"Do you need anything Relics? I'm going to go give Jason his dinner." Chloe said since Jason was currently downtown trying to fix today's mess, all the while trying not to smile or laugh at how cute a couple they were.

"No thanks Chloe." Relics replied and stiffened as Lana snuck a hand around his back and pulled their bodies together.

He heard Chloe walk out the door leaving the two teenagers alone, allowing him to launch his counter assault. Suddenly the minx found herself squealing with delight and getting little nips on the arms. She fought back but bit him on the neck and immediately stopped. Relics cocked an eyebrow and let her arm go.

"Lana? Are you okay?" Relics asked the suddenly un-playful minx.

"S-Sorry I didn't mean to bite your neck like that." She said not looking at the young man in his eyes and blushing like she had a fever.

"That's okay, it felt kind of good." Relics snickered and dove in to her neck repaying the favor. He expected her to fight back but instead he heard a very sharp yip. He quickly pulled back and somehow she turned even redder, like every last red blood cell in her stunning body flocked to her gorgeous face and was now shining through her fur. "You okay Lana? I didn't hurt you did I?"

The minx didn't respond at first. Her muzzle moved like she was going to say something but couldn't find the breath. Her red eyes sparkled and she finally found the power to speak.

"R-Relics… w-when a boy nips a girl on the neck… it's a gesture of lust." Lana said wondering if he already knew and what his next move would be.

Relics' mouth dropped and he turned a little pink. "Oh I… sorry I didn't know."

'_Well actually I did, I just wasn't thinking.'_

"It's okay, I started it after all. I didn't mean to imply anything." Lana murmured.

Relics gave her a sly smile. "Oh come now, you can't tell me that you haven't thought about it? I _am_ kind of a sexy beast."

'_Yes you _are _and all the time_!_'_ Lana exclaimed in her mind but instead said. "Um… I-"

The human's jaw fell and he gave her a very coy look. "Oh… my… God. You HAVE, haven't you?!"

The minx could not think of anything to say in response to his beguiling smile. Her heart was aflutter and her fur began to stand on end as her body started to tingle.

"Oh God!" Lana squeaked when Relics bit her neck again, his teeth sinking deeper and deeper but somehow knowing just where the line of pleasure and pain was. Her hands reached around his back and her claws sank into his back making him moan with affection and let go.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think you weren't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and that you hold a special place in my heart where no other woman will ever come close to achieving." Relics breathed into her neck through his teeth, his hot breath sending cold shivers throughout her body. When the electricity finished coursing through her veins her body felt like it might overheat and she started to break out into a nervous sweat.

"Relics that's… so sweet- yip!" Lana cried out as the vixen in her was surprised by the second little nip. "Stop that!"

"But you taste so sweet and salty! Are you sweating?" Relics snickered as he made his way on top and pinned her down.

The minx unexpectedly became incredibly tense and her eyes flickered left and right as if she was trying to find an escape route. Little did Relics know but after her failed relationship with Wolf, who was extremely assertive and dominating, she had come to dread being dominated and forced into submission. The human noticed her angst and tilted his head.

"Lana? Are you alri- AH!" Relics shouted out loud and found himself on his back and groaning in pain. "Ow… ow… I think I landed on my squeedely spooch."

The human shook his head and sat up. He looked around and found that Lana was holding herself and had her back to him. At first Relics was a little annoyed by it, but he couldn't stay mad at her even if he tried. Not wanting to get thrown off the couch again, Relics sat a little bit away from her but didn't hesitate to put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

"Hey, that kind of hurt you know." Relics said without any sings of annoyance in his tone.

"I'm sorry." Lana sniffled before she let out a quiet sob.

"But- but not really that much! Hey, don't cry Lana." Relics cooed and was fast to embrace her.

Memories of Wolf were flooding the minx's mind. Horrible memories of an abusive relationship and an even more abusive hobby the two shared together. The events of today opened up her eyes, and she knew she couldn't go on keeping her secret from Relics as it was only a matter of time before he found out through someone else.

"Relics… there's something you should know about me." Lana admitted and bit her lips. "I've done terrible things in my life, and after today I know I can't ever escape my past."

"Wait, what?" Relics asked, his touch fading away from her sobbing shoulders.

'_What Melina said about you is true?'_ Relics thought in disbelief. His whole world started to shake as thoughts of the most beautiful creature in his life hurting people for fun overtook his imaginative mind.

"Back in middle school, when I was going out with Wolf, I was the school bully. I tormented people, beat them up, took whatever I wanted, got expelled from school, you name it. I hurt so many people and got away with it because I was going out with the biggest guy in school and my parents could buy and sell a planet three times over. One day I don't know why but I realized just how terrible I had become and when I broke up with Wolf they all smelled the blood in the water. Everyone I ever hurt came after me and it made it hard to become a better person." Lana went on, spilling her heart out to the stunned human.

"Did you… did you try and kill yourself?" Relics found himself asking.

Lana's ears flattened and she looked into his eyes. "How did you…? Yes. I was so alone, everyone hated me, and I couldn't show my face outside without being attacked in some way… I just wanted it all to end. My parents moved us across town and enrolled me into a different school. Not many people knew of me there and I did my best to stay out of the radar, but the punishment I deserved wouldn't let me hide. A few weeks went by and I was about to try again, this time without making any mistakes… and that's when I met Miyu. She just moved to Corneria and she didn't care what I did in the past, she defended me regardless."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Relics asked wishing he could go back in time and rip off his ears before he ever heard such a shocking story.

Lana looked away as tears rolled freely down her face. "Because I don't think I can be your friend anymore."

Relics blinked, his face going numb like he was just hit with a brick. Lana just struck him at his core and he wanted to get it through her head just how crazy that was. He loved her and even if he couldn't share his love with her he would settle for having her as a friend, but now he was even about to lose her friendship. Doing that would crush him as he relied on her to keep him sane. She was what made him get up in the morning, what kept him going through the rest of the day, and the reason he still had any good dreams.

"Don't say that. I don't care what kind of person you _were_. The fact of the matter is I lo-like you so much that I _want_ you in my life." Relics said starting to panic a little.

"I can't let that happen though. I've been selfish and people who still hate me might come after you to get to me. I was so scared today that they were looking for you and were going to hurt you too. If I were to let that happen, I'd never forgive myself." Lana said standing up and slipping out of the young man's fingers and breaking heart. "I have to go."

Every step she took away was like putting a mile between them. Relics began to whine like a begging dog as the time he had spent on Corneria was starting to affect him in more ways than one.

"Lana wait!" Relics called out and ran to catch up with her. Her paw just reached the doorknob when he caught up and before she could turn the knob he pressed her up against the door. "Don't leave me. You're my best friend and I can't imagine my life without you. If you leave me I'll miss you too much."

"I'm going to miss you too." Lana cried. "This is so hard to do but I _have_ to. You're in danger with me around."

"To Hell with the danger, Lana!" Relics growled and pressed himself against her and hugging her around the waist. "I'd have fought through all those assholes for you! I've killed for you!"

Lana blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I meant I _would_ kill for you." Relics lied when in all actuality he really had taken life, several lives in fact, to keep her safe. "I want to be there for you, to protect you and shield you from any that would harm you."

For a moment it seemed to have worked, her tears stopped and she took her hand off the door handle. She let out a quiet sigh before she reached a hand behind his neck and pulled his lips within an inch of her own. Both their hearts were pounding through their chests as if they were yearning to escape and join together, but like their lips it was not meant to be.

"And I wish you could be the one, but I care about you too much to put you into that kind of situation again." Lana said before she kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye."

The young woman slipped out of his grasp and the door closed behind her leaving the young man to fall to his knees in utter sorrow.

'_No… we were so close… so close.'_ Relics thought as the realization that he had just been dumped sank in. He tried to ignore it, tried to pretend like it didn't just happen, but he could not escape the heartache that seemed to follow him all throughout his life.


	34. Nothing Else Matters

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Okay everybody, it looks like the non-canon chronicles are a go. Thanks to everyone that voted and participated in the poll. Second note, I'd say this story is getting close to finished. I'm not going to put a number down on how many chapters are left because every time I do, I am so wrong and it could hinder the story's progress. I will say that it is about seventy-ish percent done. There will be no sequel; this will be a standalone fic aside from the non-canon chronicles. So whatever ending you get is the ending you get. This is a pretty different chapter, at least I feel it is, and the ending of it is certainly to die for. Hope you enjoy!**_

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

"Hi Relics!" A beautiful vixen sang and gave the human one of the most uplifting hugs in his life, but it did hardly anything for him. He only put on a fake smile and did his best to hug her back. When she let go of him he was finally able to breathe again.

"Hey Fara." Relics barely more than grunted as the perky vixen sat down in the desk next to him. He sort of envied her a little as she looked like she didn't have a single care in the world. And why would she? She was pretty, rich, had a great body, loads of real friends, and if she wanted to she could go out with somebody and not make national headlines. Relics wondered just what the repercussions of him kissing a Cornerian would be, and if he or the person he kissed would ever get a moments rest again because everyone with a camera would hound them like animals.

'_I fucking hate it here.'_ Relics thought perhaps meaning the school, but he knew what he really meant. He had lived on Corneria for almost five months, and never was he allowed to let his guard down, even for the slightest second, lest someone catch it on tape.

"How have you been? Did you have a good weekend?" Lana cooed pleasantly but rather annoyingly to the depressed human.

"Yeah it was… pretty great." Relics lied and it was so clear to the auburn vixen that he was, because of his hollow tone.

Her large ears flicked around so adorably before she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Relics lied once more making Fara's bushy tail flick and nearly hit the poor freshman behind her.

"Oh come on Relics, you can tell me." Fara assured and scooted her desk closer to his, her deep brown eyes offering him all the time and care in the world like a real friend.

'_A _real_ friend wouldn't walk out on me claiming it was for my own _good._' _Relics thought bitterly as his anger began to boil and brood. _'A _real_ friend wouldn't crush my heart like a tank does a water ballon!'_

"It's nothing; I just woke up feeling kinda shitty today. That's all." Relics replied and before Fara could pester any further, the bell rang.

If there ever was a time Relics wanted to go on a murderous rampage, it was between the hours of seven and eight in the morning that day. Just listening to the teacher drone on and on about stuff he didn't give a damn about, all the while the class whispered about him even still to this day, just made him want to tear all their throats out with a rusty scalpel. The misery and resentfulness he felt towards Lana had affected him deeply. Truly, she was the only thing keeping him sane as he managed to find thirteen different ways to kill his teacher by the end of class. Luckily, the bell rang before Relics made good on any one of those fatalities, and he shot out of the room before Fara could bring up his bitter mood again.

'_I'm going to see her later, no doubt about that. She'll probably bring it up later at lunch and the whole group will get in on it and then I'll kill them all. Typical Monday, no?'_

Unfortunately it was a Monday so he had lunch right after second period but he was already thinking of clever tactics to avoid going to lunch all together. Most of the "clever" tactics would require god like timing to work and a random bomb threat, so the human settled on just skipping lunch and roam the halls until third period.

Surprisingly he was the first person to his second period class, especially since Ms. Kensington was wearing one of the shortest skirts he had seen her in yet. When he walked in she was sitting on top of her desk legs crossed but then she saw him.

"Good morning, Relics." She said uncrossing her legs giving Relics' sore eyes something nice to look at.

"Good morning, Ms. Kensington." Relics said as the image of a pink lacy article of clothing under the skirt ran through his mind.

The swan's feathers ruffled together implying she was pleased. "I have a very _special_ surprise for you today."

'_Bonerific- I mean terrific.'_

"What kind of surprise?" Relics asked as the avian walked over to the door… and locked it.

The snowy swan giggled and walked up to his desk. "Why ruin the surprise?" She asked and sat on his desk, her skirt sneaking up her thigh just two inches from showing too much. The young man cocked an eyebrow and didn't bother looking away.

"That's a nice skirt you have on today." Relics said with a smug grin.

"Why thank you, Relics." The avian cooed. "It's made of real silk… if you want to feel it, go right on ahead."

'_I don't see anything wrong with that. It's not like I'm dating someone or anything. Besides, it's real silk.'_

Relics' hand reached out and touched the skirt, slowly moving up and down, coming within half an inch of her bikini line. The human looked up to her face, seeing her eyes closed and head hanging back, he went up even further to her hip and gently rubbed it.

The avian moaned and shifted her legs around, her skirt crawling up another inch allowing Relics to see the hot pink cloth underneath, preserving her modesty. The human's heart began to pound heavily in his chest. Yesterday he would never have played into Ms. Kensington's games, who had been throwing him casual hints all semester, but now he felt hurt, unloved, and in need of a release somehow. Only he had found that somehow, and it was between the swan's shifting legs.

"Ms. Kensington, may I ask you a question?" Relics asked, his hand shifting back down to her thigh, rubbing precariously close to the woman's nether. But before she could answer there came a loud bang from the door that nearly scared the life out through the human. The swan sighed and her feathers flattened out.

"Another time perhaps, right now though we've got class to get through." She said and walked over to the door and unlocked it. "Put your paw down, Billiam."

Bill's ears flattened ashamedly and he slowly retracted his hand which had come within only a few millimeters of hitting Ms. Kensington in the face. "Sorry Ms. Kensington. I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No BIlliam, hello everyone. Come in." Ms. Kensington chirped as everyone started to file in. They all took notice of Relics and some gave him suspicious looks and "ohs" mostly from Bill and Falco though.

'_Whatever. It's not Lana would care or anything. She doesn't even want to be my _friend_.'_ Relics thought sourly to himself. _'So what if I want to bend Ms. Kensington over on her desk and give her an "apple" and some feather rustling.'_

"Okay class, take your seats and now we'll get into today's lesson. Today we'll start off with the trajectory of projectile bullets versus lasers." The avian said and began to drone on and on as Relics lost all interest in everybody and everything in life.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"What's up, bro?"

'_God… if there is a God, which I'm pretty sure there is considering I'm still alive, please… _please_ give Bill a tumor so massive that it kills him when he falls down and lands on it, spilling blood and brain everywhere in a gorgeous mess of carnage and gore!'_

Relics forced the best smile he could and turned around. "Hey Bill, how's it hanging?"

"Much better now that the swelling's gone down." Bill said as he looked back at his tail gleefully and it started wagging. "

"Great." Relics said and started moving further down the lunch line. "You should really stop chasing it and playing with it so roughly."

"I know, I know." Bill sighed with a canine like whine as his ears drooped. "So uh… what's up with you and Lana?"

'_She's a heart breaking bitch, that's what's up most recently.'_ Relics thought from the deepest hurt filled hole in his heart.

"What are you talking about?" Relics almost snapped as his tone was very bitter and also hurt filled.

Bill licked his chops as he noticed Relics' strange tone. "Well… Lana's been acting kind of strange lately. She hasn't been talking to any of us, she doesn't return our calls, and frankly you're pretty much on the same page as her."

"I've been busy." Relics said as he just made it to the front of the line and quickly typed in his number so that he could attempt to escape the questioning canine.

"Busy with somebody maybe?" Bill asked suspiciously.

'_I would have been, would have rocked her world and pleased her in any way she'd have asked. Anything she wanted; I'd have been her slave!'_ Relics thought as he could imagine only a mere portion of what he wanted to do to, with, on, off, and every other position manageable without breaking something.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Relics grunted as he walked towards the groups' table as he no longer had the option of escaping.

"Oh come on!" The pit-bull cajoled. "I admit, she's hot! You're banging her hard against the nearest flat surface aren't you?"

"Shut up before I fuck you up, Bill." Relics spat at the canine.

Bill blinked and his muzzle fell. Relics never snapped at him and so this was a surprise to him. The pit-bull was much bigger and stronger than the human, but Bill seemed to have developed obedience towards Relics, as he saw him as a superior in the pack. Sure everyone beat on him because he was big and strong so he could handle it, but Relics was always nice and he never asserted his authority, until now. It shocked, confused, and even hurt him, like a puppy that got hit by a rolled up newspaper for the first time.

"Uh, okay… sorry." Bill mumbled as he walked on ahead and sat down at the table, not saying a word and just started eating.

"Hey guys, how ya doing?" Miyu asked as Relics sat across from her and Bill.

Relics gave anod at the feline and got right to eating. For a while it seemed to have worked and he got through half of his food, but then Slippy saw Lana avoiding the group and sat with her other friends. It took him a little time to swallow all the food in his mouth before he could say.

"Hey, why's Lana sitting with her track friends?"

All the Cornerians looked over towards where the amphibian pointed while the human chewed a little slower while still solely focusing on his food.

"That's kind of weird; she's been sitting with us every day for the last two months." The orange vulpine Fox pointed out.

"Maybe they're having an important track meet?" Fara thought out loud.

"Or maybe…" Falco said with a sly tone, "something went down that we don't know about?"

"Like what?" Lana purred as her large bushy tail swished around behind her while she stared at the human.

'_If you drop it right now I won't rip off your beak and shove it up your ass.'_

The blue falcon's feathers ruffled and he chuckled in his throat. "If you ask me, I'd say that _something_ went down. Is there something you want to tell us, Relics?"

"No." Relics said flatly but he might as well have said yes because the troll of a bird was going to exploit this as much as he could, as always.

"Somebody is lying." Falco sang in a very childish tone and looked to Bill for support, but found the quiet and rather solemn canine not even paying attention. The bird nudged the canine expecting his support but the dog shrugged him off. "What's wrong, Bill?"

"Nothin'." Bill mumbled rather meekly, his brown dog eyes flashing to the human making the falcon's feathers flatten out in irritation.

"What did you do to Bill, human?" Falco asked acidly.

'_Put him in his place… like I'm about to do to you if you don't shut the fuck up.'_

"I didn't do nothing." Relics said sternly, accepting the bird's challenge.

"He didn't do anything." Bill defended despite the whack on the nose he received a few moments ago, but it only made things worse.

"No, you're never like this. What did you do?" Falco demanded.

Relics threw down his fork and glared right into Falco's eyes. "I told him to shut his muzzle before I did it for him, which is exactly what I'll do to you if you don't stop talking about Lana!"

Falco cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? I'd like to see that!" He said rising up from his seat.

"Oh trust me; you don't want any of what I got right now." Relics said rising to the challenge.

Everyone on the table was dead silent as they watched everything go down. This was so unexpected and out of character of Relics, who had made himself a pleasant spot in the tightly knit group of friends. It was so rare for a group of friends to have inner fights that would establish dominance. Long ago, Cornerian friends were more like packs of animals and fights in the packs established dominance amongst the ranks. Dominance fights were rare nowadays, especially in the "Star Fox" pack, but that wasn't going to stop the falcon and the human.

"Hey, come on guys." Fox chuckled despite the gravity of the situation. "Let's not let this go somewhere we don't want."

"Are you kidding? Someone _needs_ to show this human his place." Falco squawked.

"And _you're_ going to be the one to do it? Check my track record, I've kicked more ass in two months than you've seen on some porn site, and each one was a lot tougher than some uppity chick from the ghetto!" Relics nearly shouted causing the bird's eye to twitch and rush for the human.

'_Oh I have been looking forward to this!'_ Relics thought as he rushed to engage the damn falcon that made life a little more than difficult to live on Corneria.

Before either one could throw a punch, an orange blur interjected. The unofficial pack leader kept the two from tearing the other apart and forced them away.

"Knock it off, the both of you!" The fox growled showing his fangs and superior authority.

Relics had nothing against Fox; in fact, he was his best friend out of the group if you didn't count Lana. Thus the human was rather reluctant to get Fox mixed in this and hurt him too. If it came down to it he was rather confident that he could take both of them, but after all the fighting last weekend his eyes were still sore and blurry at best.

"This isn't over, human." Falco warned pointing his finger at the human.

"Not by a longshot." Relics affirmed before walking away with the uttermost intention of settling the score later when Fox or anyone else wouldn't get in the way.

Along the way to the exit he passed by the table Lana was sitting at and the little display attracted a lot of attention, including the minx's. Their eyes caught and for a second they connected and spoke on a mutual channel, but then she turned away to avoid his almost lifeless eyes.

'_Just someone I used to love now.' _He thought with a sigh.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The rest of the day went on rather uneventful. Relics and Falco never got to have the fight that they wanted and couldn't even compete against each other in gym class, Fox saw to that and made sure that they had little to no contact whatsoever.

Word traveled around school rather fast that Relics was on the warpath, and everyone made it their business to gossip about it even to this day. Normally the "hype" died down and people lost interest in the topic of the week/month, but not in the human exchange student. If anything, the hype was still growing. Now that people were getting more adjusted and used to him, new levels of interest were emerging, especially from the female gender it seemed.

When he first got to Corneria, most females avoided him like he was the plague or he would inseminate them so they'd give birth to his children Xenomorph style. Now though, he was getting offers left and right, flirty fluttering eyes, lustful stares, "accidental" touches, and more numbers than a fifth grade school math book. When Lana was in his sights and he wanted nothing else in this alien world more than her, he took no notice and ignored it all. Yet now he just wanted the loneliness to end and to share his inner self with someone and not be rejected or hurt. Or sex, whatever came first.

Finally at the end of the school day, Relics walked out of school and found Jason waiting for him as per usual. If the average high school student could tell Relics was in a less than good mood, it was readable within a heartbeat to the German Sheppard. On the way home he tried to strike up some small talk with the teen, but that was like trying to strike a wet match against Jell-O. The second they got home, Relics just trudged upstairs to his room and closed the door behind him.

"What happened?" Chloe asked worriedly as she believed it was something that happened at school and had no idea, like everyone else, that Lana pretty much dumped him and cut him off.

Jason sighed. "I don't have the slightest clue. He hardly spoke a damn word the entire way back. I'm gonna grab a drink."

"It's only four in the afternoon! And shouldn't we find out what's bothering him?" Chloe asked with an annoyed hiss while following her husband to the kitchen.

"Trust me; he just needs a little space right now." Jason said reaching into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of his favorite beer. "When he wants to talk, he'll come to us."

Chloe let out an aggravated huff as Jason put the bottle to his lips and before he could take even a sip, Chloe swiped it from him and tossed it into the sink.

"Babe, what the fuck?!" Jason shouted when the bottle shattered and cold beer flew everywhere.

"Our son is up there, absolutely miserable, and you just want to drink?!" Chloe hissed.

"Hey, he's not _my_ son!" Jason growled. "He already had a dad; he didn't have a mom so he settled for you!"

"What do you mean he _settled_?" Chloe growled back like a panther about to tear out the entrails of its prey.

"Oh come on, Chloe!" Jason groaned and words he did not mean to say suddenly came flying out thanks to his aggravation. "We both know that you're just using him as a stand in for a kid until you get one of your own. Then you'll just dump him off and forget all about-"

Jason didn't get a chance to finish as a swift and stinging hand slapped across his face, shutting him up mid-sentence. The canine had been slapped many times before, but never by the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Before he could respond Chloe pointed a claw into his face.

"_He is our son_." Chloe voiced before storming off to go check on him.

The canine stood in the kitchen for a while, fridge open and face still stinging. He had never seen Chloe this angry before. He wiped some of the beer from his shirt and growled in his throat.

"Fuckin' bitch." He thought as he began to pick up the glass in his sink only to cut his hand and go off on a swearing rampage. After he uttered every swear and their variants, the canine wrapped his cut finger in paper towels and applied some pressure. "Just _had_ to throw the fuckin' bottle, didn't you Chloe?"

When all the glass was all picked up, the canine wanted to go upstairs and start a fight with Chloe, but they promised not to fight seriously in front of Relics.

"To Hell with this." Jason huffed. "I'm going to go get a drink."

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

A small knock on the door alerted the human that the outside world still existed despite his desire to be the last living thing in the universe. Begrudgingly he moved a few of the blankets out of his face so he could be heard clearly from under his mass of blankets and pillows he had crawled under.

"Come in."

The door opened just a crack and the panther purred. "Relics? Hey sweetie, how was school?"

"Fine." Relics replied.

The panther purred and stepped inside. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"I'm tired." Relics half lied. _'So tired of this damn planet.'_

Chloe couldn't help but smile as she walked over to his bed and sat down. "Do you have enough blankets or should I go get some more?" She giggled as she patted his arm.

"No, I've got enough." Relics shrugged.

"Come on, tell me what's wrong." Chloe fussed.

"_Nothing,_ is wrong! How many times am I going to have to say that today?!" Relics snapped.

The panther's ears flared and she gave the human a smack on the arm. "Knock that off emo-kid."

'_What the fuck?'_ Relics thought as the smack on the arm and the scorn was a very much needed kick in the ass.

"You've been pretty mopey for the lately and I can't stand it!" Chloe scorned and ripped the covers off from over his head and captured his eyes. "You said I was your mother and I _will_ be your mother. Just open up to me, I _want_ to help!"

The human's face turned blank and he thought about it for a moment. Chloe had always treated him like her own and did everything she could to make his life easier. They had grown close over the many weeks he had lived in her home, and she even consoled him on how to get the girl of his dreams. He could trust her, he could confide to her all his problems and emotions.

Relics sighed as his eyes became miserable. "It hurts, mom."

"What hurts, baby?" Chloe meowed and stroked his face with her soft paw.

"Everything, I… I lost her." He admitted. "We were so close but she doesn't want to even be my friend anymore!"

Chloe's eyes turned to irritated slits as she could hardly believe her ears, but was only half surprised. Only something like Lana rejecting him seemed like the logical reason for his temperamental teenage angst. She felt a pure rage brewing in her heart as she had spoon fed everything Lana needed to seal the deal. All she knew now was if that minx ever showed her face around her house again there'd be a new fur rug hanging over the mantelpiece the next day.

The panther sighed. "I should have known. I'm so sorry, honey."

The human closed his eyes. "She wants to protect me so she cut me off. She doesn't think I can handle myself, that _I_ need protecting."

"Relics…" Chloe began but shook her head, "as much as I hate to admit it, you do. So many people want to hurt you already, and you don't need the people who hate _her_ coming for _you_."

"I can handle myself!" Relics snapped but got another smack on the arm, this one actually hurt because he didn't have a layers of blankets covering him. "Ow!"

"Don't talk to your mother like that." Chloe warned making Relics shrink away.

"Sorry… but I feel so… I don't know. One second I'm mad, the next I'm depressed, and then out of nowhere I'm livid again!"

"It's called PMS, a lot of girls have it." Chloe purred making Relics drop his jaw for a moment and give her a stern glare but couldn't help but chuckle.

"_Thanks_ mom." Relics scoffed.

The jungle cat nodded her head and stroked his hair. "Listen Relics, I know you love the girl, and if you really want to fight for her than I suggest you do just that. I'm personally a little mad at her for doing this to you, but she's probably the best thing for you. She kind of balances you out and makes you a little less emo."

"You know what?" Relics growled and pounced on the panther and began to wrestle with her. Little did he realize that he was vastly outmatched and was pinned down within seconds.

"Honey, please." Chloe purred. "How do you think I can keep Jason in line? Do you honestly think that he's the dominant one?"

Relics grunted as he tried to push Chloe off of him but there was no way he was getting out of being hogtied. "Well to be honest… I kind of had my doubts about who stuck it to who."

Chloe giggled and let Relics go. "Okay, I'm going to go get Jason, he's probably at a bar brooding but one quickie and a blowie and he'll- oh sorry."

"Yeah… yeah." Relics groaned as the thought of Chloe going down on Jason physically hurt him like it would you if your mother talked to you about what she does to your dad.

"You'll get her back, she was made for you." Chloe assured as she closed the door behind her to go after her husband.

The second she was gone, the human picked up his phone. He began to dial Lana's number, coming up with a million things he wanted to tell her and admit his love. Yet just as he was about to connect the call he hesitated. The more he thought about her, the more he realized how little he really knew her. These things shouldn't be handled over the phone, and he'd hunt her down if he had to tomorrow at school.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"Hey pal, you've been throwing those away pretty fast. You might want to slow- alright, alright! Just trying to make a suggestion!" The bartender said declaring his innocence so that the glowering German Shepard didn't rip his throat out with his teeth.

"I'm not in the mood for slowing down." Jason barked and slammed down a shot of vodka. Normally he was a rum person but at the moment he wanted something a little stronger. His face had stopped hurting three hours ago but the fact of the matter remained; Chloe hit him for the first time ever.

He never expected that, simply because he did not really believe that Chloe truly saw Relics as her kit. It was sad, beautiful, and at the same time depressing. In his mind, thoughts of inadequacy and failure began to fester. Jason deep down believed that it was somehow his fault for not getting Chloe pregnant. For almost a year now they've been trying non-stop to conceive a child despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them because of their difference of species. Yet they had been together for four years and they both believed that they were ready, and they both desired to bring a new life into the world.

"Damn kid, wrecking my life is what he's doing." Jason mumbled into his drink, trying to displace some of his crestfallen feelings off on Relics. "Cost me my promotion, cost me my girl, eats all my food, and gets my ass chewed out on a regular basis. Should have shot him the minute he stepped foot on this rock."

The bar's door opened spilling cold air into the dank and depressing hovel for those looking for a cheap drink. A woman stepped in, shivering from the cold that would easily allow for snow if there was any moisture in the air. She immediately spotted the lone boozehound at the bar and walked over to him.

"Barkeep, whatever he's having… but in a clean glass." She said seeing that the sparrow was reaching for a very speckled glass with an untold amount of germs.

The sparrow rolled his eyes and took a glass that was cleaner before pouring a shot of vodka in it for the panther.

"Anything else darling?" He asked giving her a less than gentlemanly look.

"Better knock that darling shit off with my wife, guy." Jason growled as the fur on the back of his neck stood on end.

Knowing that the canine was definitely not someone he should be messing with, the bartender went on his way to take care of the other few customers he had at the moment leaving the currently troubled couple alone.

For a while they didn't say anything, just shared a silent drink together from the bottle the bird left behind. Finally, after the tension had solidified in the air, Jason spoke.

"What do you want?" He grumbled with a small drunken slur in his voice.

"I wanted to apologize… sort of." Chloe told him and sipped at the vodka in her glass.

"Really?" Jason said as he cleared his throat. "Imagine that. You're "_sort of"_ apologizing."

"Yes." Chloe said with the pride of the aristocratic blood in her veins.

Jason rolled his eyes and waited for a minute yet Chloe still said nothing. "Well?! You gonna apologize or what?!"

"Not until you apologize." Chloe dictated.

"Of course, it just has to go _your_ way doesn't it?" Jason snapped. "You smash my beer, slap me in the face, leave me to clean up the huge mess, and I cut myself doing so! Yet somehow, _I'm_ the bad guy!"

"I never said you were the bad guy." Chloe said, still not looking at him which only served to piss the man off.

"Then why do I have to apologize first?" Jason demanded.

"Because you didn't even want to figure out what was bothering our son."

Jason scoffed and took another shot, shaking his head as the liquid burned on the way down. "He's not _my_ son. He already had a dad."

"He may not say it, but he _loves_ you." Chloe stressed.

"That doesn't make him my kid! I'm sure he'd rather die than let me be his dad for even a day! He's so proud of his real father to want me, and frankly I don't blame him!" Jason snarled.

Chloe's tail twitched over to his and intertwined it. "Why hon?"

"Because his dad was a hero, I'm a goddamn Spec Ops stuck babysitting! Not really that much of a competition, is there?"

The panther leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder as he rolled his eyes and pretended like he hated it.

"Jay-Jay…" Chloe purred. "You're an amazing husband, a wonderful man, a dutiful provider, and you make such a great father regardless if you are or are not his true father. He looks up to you and thinks the world of you."

Jason wanted to argue against that but found himself remembering the time Relics asked if he was mad at him. The human was so deeply concerned with Jason's opinion of him that Jason himself could feel the weight lift from his shoulders when he said he didn't blame him for the loss of his promotion.

"Alright fine… I'm sorry." He finally growled a bit reluctantly but found the reward to be quite gratifying. Almost instantly, Chloe began to give him gentle pecks on his muzzle while her playful hand explored his inner thigh secretively so that none of the bar patrons would see.

"And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have smacked you." She said as her fur stood on end and she began to feel a little warmer with every kiss.

"What about my beer?" Jason grunted, his hand snaking around his wife's waist and rubbing up and down her side.

"And for spilling your beer… oh Jay-Jay!" Chloe giggled when the canine made a bold move and copped a feel of her breasts despite the fact that people could see.

"What do you say we get out of here?" Jason asked as he pulled out his wallet.

"I don't think we'll make it home." She purred, her coy hand finding a bulge that nearly sent her over the deep end.

"If that's the case, then I know I nice quiet spot not too far from here." Jason said leaving the amount he owed and a more than reasonable sized tip considering how much of an ass he had been to the bartender. They both got up and before Chloe could say anything else she let out a surprised meow.

"Parking lot. Now!" She moaned and jumped the dog, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carried her out the door with nearly every eye watching them as they left in a frenzy of kissing, fondling, and moaning.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

As Relics walked through the halls of the school he kept his tired eyes out for his minx. He was so anxious about what he was about to do that he stayed up most of the night in a Hellish state of unable to fall asleep because of it all. Would she take him back and dump him in the friend-zone, would she reject him, or would they finally break all the walls society had instilled to keep them apart? So many possibilities were ran amok in his brain, the majority of them not ending happily, but damn it all if he wasn't going to try. He needed her; she kept him sane and his heart from breaking.

Yet as he walked around through the halls, he couldn't find any trace of her; almost as if she were avoiding him. As his search wore on he began to give up hope of finding her before class started, but then he ran into someone he also needed to talk to.

"Well, if it isn't the human exchange student."

Relics tensed as he believed the blue falcon was but a second away from punching him out, but that didn't seem to be the case. His silver eyes found that Falco wasn't alone and that Fara and Bill were with him, both very worried as to what was going to happen next.

"Falco." Relics said not pleasantly but not hostilely either.

"What do you want?" Falco squawked hotly making Relics reconsider what he was about to do.

'_Just do it, you were in the wrong and it's time to man up.'_

The young man bit his lip and looked away. "I wanted to… apologize for the way I acted yesterday, to you and Bill."

Falco blinked and nearly did a double take. He did not expect that to come out of his mouth and was hoping they'd fight it out instead.

"Why are you apologizing to me, bud?" Bill asked.

'_I let you live for one.'_

"It was wrong of me to lash out at you like I did." Relics said even as his pride was begging him to stop and save face.

Bill shuffled around. "Well, kind of not really. I'd say I had it coming."

"No you didn't really-" Relics began but was cut off.

"We heard about Lana." Fara said not making eye contact and the saddened look on her face attracted Relics' curiosity.

"What do you mean? Did she tell you?" Relics asked.

The auburn vixen rubbed her arm. "No, the gossipers told us."

'_Gossipers?! What the fuck is going on here?'_

"What are you talking about?"

"Relics… Lana is… she's up on the next floor. You should go ask her for yourself." Falco said feeling a bit of pity for the human as panic and worry began to show more and more on his face.

Without another word Relics took off to the stairs, almost plowing people out of the way in the process. He made it up to the third floor which was pretty much empty at this early hour and quickly began to search for his beloved minx. He scanned the few people around and finally found a minx but he knew it wasn't her; this particular minx was wrapped up in the arms of some white arctic fox. Yet the closer he got the less he was able to deny it. The human stopped in his tracks, eyes wide as he realized that Lana was in the arms of another man.

And she was kissing him.


	35. Spite

The white vulpine pulled back from the minx and smirked smugly. Lana couldn't respond before he planted another kiss on her perfect lips, defiling them and shattering the last of Relics' hopes that his eyes were playing tricks on him. She didn't resist in the slightest as he pulled her deeper into the kiss.

Relics was frozen in his spot as his body shook from the force of the emotional storm inside. He could not stand to look at her kissing some other man. That bastard fox could in no way love her more than he loved her. Lana was everything to him and he was willing to fight for her yet surprisingly instead of outrage and the will to fight did not overtake him, instead a deep hollow feeling began to unfold within, like a piece of himself had been carved out with a jagged butcher's knife. It both, physically and mentally, felt like his heart was being torn apart while his mind began to lament in agony of watching her delicate and mystique lips press against some other man's. Yet it was that pain that he felt was the catalyst for his fury.

'_It's not fair! _**I'm** _supposed to be kissing her, not that runt of an excuse of a fox!'_ Relics thought as finally his anger and jealousy began to emerge from the bottom of his pain filled soul. _'That's _**my** _woman, not yours you flea ridden mutt! GET YOUR PAWS OFF HER!'_

The human began to growl in his throat like a Cornerian as he stomped towards the minx and her new friend. A small freshman didn't see the human on a rampage and got tossed out of the way. The young man had a thousand and one ways he would kill the fox and then remind Lana who she was supposed to be kissing, but before he could land one hit they saw him.

"Relics!" Lana gasped as she saw the bloodlust in his eyes. Before she could blink, the white fox holding her was grabbed by shoulders and slammed against the lockers across the hallway causing him to yip in surprise. The human pulled back a fist all the way to New York City to send the vulpine to Hell with one punch, but his fist found itself stuck midway.

Relics looked back, ready to sock the person holding his arm but stopped himself. "Lana, let go of my arm!"

"Relics, no!" Lana begged as tears formed in her eyes. "I can't let you fight him."

The human pulled his arm from her hands and swung at the vulpine but he stepped out of the way just in time. Relics didn't let up and was determined to hammer away at the fox and bash his head in. He threw a haymaker at the vulpine but he was deflected and he must have blinked because suddenly the right side of his face hurt like Hell. The human stumbled back and put up his guard, ready for the next attack while he regained his bearings.

"STOP!" Lana shouted and shoved the fox into the lockers before he could strike again.

Relics was about to take the advantage Lana opened up for him, but the minx threw herself in front of him, blocking his path.

"Get out of the way, Lana!" Relics growled but didn't so much as lay a finger on her.

"Please Relics, you can't fight him! He's-" Lana pleaded before Relics ducked under another swing from the fox and backed up so Lana wouldn't get hit in the cross fire. This turned out to be a mistake as the fox snuck his leg behind Relics as he moved and tripped him.

"Fucking damn it!" Relics cursed as he hit the floor but found himself on the wrong end of an ass-kicking.

'_What the fuck is going on? I've kicked every ass on this planet that so much as mouthed off to me!'_ Relics thought as he could do nothing but block his face and wait for an opportunity to strike back.

His moment soon came as the fox suddenly stopped fighting and got off him. Wiping the blood from his nose, Relics quickly jumped up but found his opponent pinned against the wall by someone much stronger than him.

"Fox? What are you doing here?" Relics panted as the fight had taken a lot more than a trickle of blood out of him.

"I was on my way to class until I heard about this." Fox growled as he strained to keep the deceptively strong arctic fox pinned. The other vulpine tried to break free but Fox strengthened his grip. "You better knock it off before I snap your arm off, mutt."

The human bit back his weakening pride but shook it off and glared at Lana. The minx looked away and her ears laid back. The human spat out the vile taste in his mouth and forced her to look at him by somewhat gently bringing her muzzle around to him. Even that didn't work as she had forced her eyes shut allowing only small tears to fall through.

"Lana, look at me." Relics ordered far softer than his anger wanted.

"Relics I…" The minx whispered as she trembled in her spot. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? The fuck does that mean you're sorry?!" The human demanded.

"You don't understand, he's-" Lana began but bit her tongue off to stop herself.

Before the human could say another word, she ran off without so much as a glance back and all at once his burning hatred and rage simmered down to misery and ache. The woman he loved lied to him, betrayed him, and had chosen someone else over him. He felt like such a fool because of how much he had believed that she was the one for him. It hurt so badly that it took all of his willpower not to show it. Some men when hurt as much as he was now break down and cry uncontrollably for days on end and others go off the deep-end and wind up getting gunned down during an attempt to kill the world leaders all at once. Yet Relics did neither, he was not allowed to showcase emotions on Corneria without being watched or judged by a trillion eyes in mere minutes. Instead he locked it all in… and sighed.

"Thanks Fox." The human said hollowly. "Let him go."

The orange fox hesitated but eventually let the white fox go.

"Real nice how you have your friends do your fighting for you, human." The white fox goaded over the orange fox's shoulder.

"You stay away from Lana if you know what's good for you, pup." Fox growled.

"That's not up to you McCloud, or the alien. It's up to my girlfriend." He sneered

"Listen you-" Fox snarled and was about to go primal on the smaller fox's ass but was stopped by the human.

Fox turned around to see the dead look on the human's face and his muzzle nearly dropped.

"You can keep her." Relics said through his teeth before leading Fox away through the mob of people that were still standing around hoping for the fight to continue.

"Relics, I got your back bro. If you want we can go beat his ass until it looks just like his face." Fox growled, his fur standing on end as he was ready to start tearing things apart for his friend's honor.

"No, it's not even worth it." Relics sighed.

Fox did a double take just as the five minute warning bell rang. "Wait, what are you talking about? Lana… she's your girl isn't she?" He asked in undertone.

"She's not mine, Fox. She threw me away because she wanted to keep me safe from her past." Relics told his friend as they walked through the hallway.

Fox's muzzle fell as he took it in. He had no idea that Lana did that, no one did, yet it explained so much but made even more questions.

"Why would Lana push you away but go to that guy? Something's got to be up." Fox reasoned with his instincts but Relics shook his head.

"It doesn't matter." Relics grunted as he shook his head. "If she wants to play her little games than she's not worth it. She can have him, and I hope they'll be happy together while they burn in Hell."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Fox said stopping Relics. "Look Relics, it's been obvious to everyone that you and Lana have got something going on. You wouldn't be this angry if you didn't feel for her."

"So what if I do?!" Relics snapped causing Fox's ears to lay back. "If she's going to shove her tongue down some guy's throat just hours after what she did to me, than I can't see why I even liked her in the first place!"

"Relics… she-" Fox began but couldn't think of anything to say.

On one hand he wanted to somehow convince Relics that he should go back and fight for her because he knew that Relics liked her, maybe even loved her, yet on the other hand he was also disgusted by what Lana had done. He knew full well of Lana's past and didn't want her in on the group to begin with, but Miyu demanded that she be let in. It took him a long time to come around to her but when she showed true signs of reform, he couldn't stay cold to her for long. All that just went out the window and he knew who's side he was taking.

Fox sighed. "I'm sorry, bro." The vulpine said putting his hand on the human's shoulder.

"Thanks man…." Relics said as he nodded his head. The human looked up to the vulpine to face him but saw something red walk up behind him.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Chloe sighed agitatedly to herself as she stroked her belly. The second Jason got back from dropping Relics off from school she practically attacked and forced her husband to the bedroom for the last two weeks now, yet no results had been yielded. The small pregnancy test in her hand was still running while she was running out of patience.

She wanted a baby so badly, she and Jason both did. They had planned for weeks, set aside a nest egg for any costs at all once she became pregnant and could no longer play the stock market. Without her amazing sense of business trading stocks and bonds, they'd have to rely on Jason's meager military salary, something that was not possible considering the mortgage on the house alone would have Jason working until he was a hundred, even with promotions along the way upping his pay.

Despite his considerable pay deficit compared to hers, she respected him and did not flaunt her greater success over him. He did a job more important than hers, more physically strenuous than hers, and above all at not even a moment's notice he could be deployed to Venom for a Spec Ops mission that he might never come back from alive. She dreaded that, and she made sure to make the most of his company when he wasn't deployed. The panther was so happy when he was selected to guard the human, as that meant he would no longer be eligible for deployment for at least a whole year.

Chloe's lavender eyes checked the test again and huffed with frustration. She was starting to get very anxious as the bathroom was rather chilly on her naked form. All she wanted to know was if she was pregnant or not from a few days ago. If she was she'd wake the exhausted canine asleep on their bed with the loudest scream of her life, and if not she'd crawl back into bed with him, enjoy his warmth, and silently cry herself to sleep.

They had been trying for almost a whole year now and frankly, she was starting to lose hope. Interspecies pregnancies were tricky, and a lot of pairings didn't work out. Felines and canines for one were rather likely of the pairings to conceive a child, but there was still a percentage of incompatibility.

Jason and Chloe had tried everything at this point, medical tests, fertility enhancements, having sex when Chloe was in heat, and even round the clock sex that nearly killed Jason; but he was the happiest son of a bitch on the planet that day as his tail continued to wag even as he was nearly put into a comatose state after.

The test began to chirp meaning it was almost done and at that moment, a sudden chilling thought came over Chloe. She wanted a child so much that she was willing to go to any lengths to get it, and she realized that she would get one with or without Jason's help.

Chloe put down the test and began to take deep breaths as what she thought began to sink in. Life without Jason seemed impossible to her, he completed her in every perfect way. He was her husband of four years, the happiest four years of her life in fact. She shuddered to think of herself leaving him, leaving her Jay-Jay. She knew it would be like when he goes on deployment, only much worse as she knew he'd never come back, he would be alive but he wouldn't be hers. The feline began to feel very cold and started to shiver the more she thought about it.

'_I can't leave Jason, I love him too much.'_ Chloe assured herself. _'But if he can't get me pregnant… I want a baby so badly. Yes I have Relics and I love him to death, but he is nearly fully grown! I never got to raise him from birth.'_

The pregnancy test gave one final whir, signaling it was done. The panther reached over to pick it up and inspect the result (a plus for pregnant, a minus for not) yet she hesitated. The outcome of their marriage would be determined by this test and if it was negative she would leave. Chloe inhaled deeply and took the test in hand before throwing it away, refusing to accept those terms.

'_No, I will stay with Jason; I don't care if he can't get me pregnant. We'll keep trying until one of us dies!'_ Chloe affirmed and left the bathroom to cuddle up next to her man and absorb his warmth. She didn't care about the results of that one test or any of the others; they were twenty bucks for a box of ten and she could buy and sell the company that made them four times over.

The panther stood at the foot of the bed her husband was currently sprawled on. Their blanket was thrown all over the place and barely covered his manhood. Chloe giggled to herself as she noticed the goofy look on his face and the little bit of drool leaking from his muzzle.

Jason was crude, he was temperamental, he was jealous, and he was a womanizer but there was not a damn thing in this universe that he wouldn't do for her. The German Shepard once carried her a mile and a half in his arms because her the heel of her shoe fell off on the opposite side of the park from where they parked their car. He loved her so much that he gave her his submission, a thing that no Cornerian gives sparingly to their mate because it symbolized the undying desire to be with her as her mate forever.

Chloe began to purr as she slipped under the covers and curled up next to her husband. She kissed him on his twitching nose that, even in his sleep, recognized her scent. The canine stretched out an arm and wrapped it around the feline, pulling her closer.

"What did the test say?" Jason asked, his tone slurred so much by sleep it was hard to believe he wasn't drunk.

Chloe opened her muzzle to reply but hesitated. Instead she kissed him again and turned around just as he pulled her in again, this time her body pressing against his. She giggled as his tail wrapped around his waist and covered her legs.

"It doesn't matter. I love you Jay-Jay." She sighed but squeaked when she felt her chest being squeezed.

"Then I'll pump out one more load of baby gravy." He growled determinedly and tried to hoist himself up, but it was no use as he had spent every ounce of energy just a few minutes ago.

"No sweetie, get some sleep. You gave me more than I could hold last time." She assured him with a smirk as she could still feel the warmth inside of her.

For a moment Jason was silent and Chloe thought he went back to sleep, until he whispered into her ear.

"Do you still love me?" He asked, his voice full of worry.

Chloe didn't have to think for a even a millisecond before she replied with a definitive. "Yes. I love you Jay-Jay! You're my stud muffin."

Jason let out an amused growl and began nuzzling her by the neck. "I'll get you a baby, I swear."

"I know you will Jay… I know you will." Chloe whispered back as she began to succumb to sleep along with her mate.

The young married couple fell asleep in a warm loving embrace. They slept so soundly and peacefully while the little battery inside the pregnancy test Chloe cast aside in the bathroom's waste basket flickered out, making the little plus sign disappear.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"Hi Relics, are you alright?"

Fox turned to and did a double take as the largest breasts he had ever seen off TV came up behind him. He didn't recognize the robin, but he could tell she recognized the human as she sidestepped around the fox and stood right next to the human.

"Hey Melina." Relics said just as the avian wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him tight, her chest pressing against him and instantly increased his body temperature. Just hours ago he'd have pushed her away, but now he realized that everything Melina said about Lana was true.

"I'm _so_ sorry Relics, I only just heard a few minutes ago. I left school as soon as I could." Melina cooed as her hands rubbed his back and her breathing moved her breasts against the human's chest. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Relics sighed. "Fox and I should be going though; we have to get to class-"

"Are you serious!?" Melina gasped. "Relics, class is the last thing you should be worrying about right now! Come on, Fox and I will take you home."

"No really, I'm… fine." Relics struggled to say as he was the farthest thing from fine.

"Aw." Melina moaned sympathetically as she once again hugged him, this time her left hand was put on the back of his head and began petting him. "It's going to be okay, I promise."

'_What is she doing? Why is she touching me? I… I'm not sure if I like this, I mean Lana wouldn't… you know what? I don't care! FUCK THAT BITCH!'_ Relics thought to himself and hugged the robin back.

Fox looked around awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. "Uh, I guess I'll go get the car started."

"Please do." Melina said to the vulpine as she fluttered her eyes at him.

The vulpine cleared his throat and averted his eyes from her again. He had to mentally scorn himself because of his inappropriate sneak looks at the red robin's breasts. It wasn't that he wanted to, but his eyes were drawn to them like they had their own gravitational pull on his eyes.

The trio had to sneak out of the school through a less visible route that all but guaranteed a person to skip school undetected. Once they were clear, they walked back to the student parking lot and got into Fox's car. The entire time the avian never once let the human go, she kept holding him; supporting him as he struggled to hold himself together.

"Thanks so much for the ride, Fox." Melina said as she snuggled up close to the broken young man.

Fox looked back at them through his rear view mirror, once more sneaking a look at the pair and the human and bird. "Uh yeah, no… no problem. How ya holding up, Relics?"

"Why'd she do it?" Relics mumbled.

"She's not a nice person, that's why. But it's okay, she won't hurt you anymore if I have anything to do with it." Melina cooed. "Turn right up here, Fox."

After another five minute, they got to Melina's house, a rather quaint but nice house. They pulled up into the parking lot and got out. Melina showed them inside and set Relics right on the couch in the living room.

"I'll be right back, just sit tight and I'll get you something to drink." Melina told the human who had a blank and somewhat dead look on his face.

Fox surveyed the human and could tell despite the difference of species, that it was ripping him apart down the seams. He could only imagine the pain he himself would feel if Miyu ever did something like that to him. The vulpine sat across from the human just as his phone started to vibrate. Not wanting to ignore his friend, Fox quickly set the phone aside but noticed that the number messaging him was his father.

'_Great, we were probably spotted skipping school.'_ Fox sighed and had to read the message now. When he did he shuddered.

'_**Fox, something's come up. You need to come home immediately. Skip school if you have to.'**_

The fox had no idea what to do, he wanted to stay with his friend in his time of need, but his father telling him to skip school was something that only happened when Hell freezes over. Fox looked back to relics and saw that he was looking at him.

"Something important?" He asked, his voice with just an echo of life left in it.

"My father texted me, said I _really_ needed to come home." Fox said painfully.

"I understand… you should go see what he wants. I won't keep you."

Fox bit his lower lip. "I… I just can't abandon you, man." Fox said shaking his head.

"It's alright; your dad needs you home. I'll be fine." Relics murmured.

"No really-" Fox began but was interrupted.

"He'll be fine with me, Fox." Melina said coming back with two cups in hand, both steaming hot. "I'll take care of him while you're gone."

Fox studied the robin as she sat down by the human. The last thing he wanted to do was abandon the human and leave him with some robin he hardly knew. He seemed comfortable enough with her, but it still didn't sit right with him. Still, he _had_ to see his father for whatever reason he needed him.

"I'll be back the second I can. If you need me for something I'll have my phone on me at all times." Fox told the mute human. With that, he quickly headed out the front door and revved up his car to leave; the sound of his tires squealing let the robin know he was gone.

"Here, drink this." She said and handed the human a bizarre smelling, steaming clear liquid.

He studied it for a second and hoped it was booze before he downed the whole thing. The bird's eyes grew wide as she watched him gulp down all of the steaming liquid.

"D-Didn't that hurt?"

"Not as much as you would think." Relics replied and let out a long sigh, the heat of his drink still in his mouth escaped as a puff of steam.

Melina giggled. "You're so cute sometimes."

Relics forced his right eyebrow to rise. "Sometimes?"

"All the other times you're adorable." Melina cooed and snuggled up to him as she held cup in both hands. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are _you_ sorry?" Relics asked sheepishly as he was rather nervous having her resting against him like Lana used to.

"You never deserved this, I should have been more open with you… but I got a little carried away trying to make you see what a bitch she could be." Melina admitted and set her cup on the coffee table before she embraced him rather affectionately.

"But isn't she your-"

"My friend?" Melina asked interrupting him. "Obviously she isn't after today. We used to be real close, but that was before she started going out with Wolf and turned into a royal bitch and… well it's not important."

"I didn't want to believe you, I thought _you_ were a… a royal bitch." Relics chuckled a little. "Couldn't have been more wrong."

Melina sighed. "You want to know what I think?" She asked catching his eyes before she went on. "I think you're a really nice guy, and you could have any girl on Corneria."

The human swallowed hard. "Y-Yeah?"

"Yeah." Melina softly whispered as she kept his eyes locked into hers and her hand on his stomach. Relics gave her a grateful smile but then her hand started moving. At first it was innocent enough, a small supporting massage, but then it started to go lower and lower and lower. A small bead of sweat ran down Relics' temple and he tensed as her hand reached the buckle of his belt.

"Uh… M-Melina?" Relics stuttered before gasping. Had she not such a grip on him he'd have leapt up off the couch and ran for the door. Yet the more she fondled and groped the more he found himself coming to terms with this.

'_She's- she's! Oh my God! OH MY GOD!'_ Relics thought just as Melina took his hand in hers and pressed it against her massive chest. On primal lust filled instinct his hand caressed her breast and she moaned deeply and started fiddling with his belt.

'_I shouldn't be doing this! No! I have to stop! What would Lana- …what about Lana? Do you think she's stopping herself with that asshole fox? If she wants to fuck that vulpine, than I'll fuck this robin!'_ Relics decided and let himself lean back and accept this.

"Are you ready for this?" She asked slyly as she began to fiddle with his belt and pants zipper.

Relics nodded slowly and closed his eyes. He felt so at peace as his entire body relaxed, ready for the bodily contact that he had been without and craving for months. He was truly at peace.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The clouds that had gathered throughout the day suddenly burst and rain doused the city. A quiet minx watched solemnly as the world grew a little darker thanks to the heavy rain. Her ears drooped lower and lower and her tail was hanging lifelessly off her chair in her room. Lana sighed and closed her eyes, trying to hold the tears in but they fell regardless. She hated herself for what she did and the pain in her love's eyes caused by her.

"I'm sorry, Relics." Lana cried as tears freely fell from her eyes. A sudden crash of lightening startled the hybrid and she tried to warm her arms with her hands. She looked out her window again and saw a flash of lightning making her quickly cover her ears before the loud crash of thunder could frighten her some more.

Lana looked down at her phone with a picture of Relics on it next to his phone number. She wanted to call him and explain it all, how it wasn't her fault, but she knew she couldn't. Her tan fur bristled and she growled in her throat; memories of that damn fox's lips against her made the skin under her fur crawl.

"God damn you, Brice." Lana scowled as her crawling skin began to itch and feel so dirty.

The minx snatched up her phone, ready to call Relics and confess everything despite the dangers of it all. Brice ordered her not to tell the human about him, but she didn't give a fuck right now. She was no longer afraid of him in the slightest after today; she wanted her human back, she wanted him here in her bed to keep her warm and safe.

"_**I want to be there for you, to protect you and shield you from any that would harm you."**_ She remembered him saying just seconds before she broke his heart.

"I have to call him; I have to explain all this." Lana told herself but hesitated. "He _has _to know."

With trembling hands, Lana finally managed to press the dial button. She held the phone up to her ear and could not wait to hear his voice. She knew he would be mad at her, probably even yell at her, but she knew that he would forgive her if he only he knew the whole truth. She was about to drop another world of danger on him but it would only be worse if he didn't know.

The phone continued to ring until it went to voicemail, but that would not deter the minx. She would try one more time before she went to his house, she'd walk through the storm to his house if she had to. Once more the phone rang but it picked up on the third ring.

"Relics? Relics are you there?" Lana asked as if she was lost in the dark waiting for a response. Then she heard it. A woman panting, a woman moaning made the minx cringe.

"Yes! Yes! Oh God, Relics, yes! Oh God… fuck me!" The woman cried out in ecstasy while a man grunted out of pleasure and stress.

Lana's muzzle fell in utter shock and her eyes widened as far as they could go. She did not mean to listen any longer, but the sounds of the woman and man sapped all of her strength, leaving her a lifeless husk, trapped in a horrible torture of listening to her love fuck some other woman. Luckily her phone fell out of her limp hand and fell to the floor; shattering into a dozen pieces and effectively silencing the other woman's shrieks.

Not a second later Lana fell to her knees and wept uncontrollably. She felt so wrong, so broken down the middle. They were never a couple, never had they kissed before and yet the thought of Relics with another woman, most likely out of revenge or spite, was a crippling thing to think of. She had wanted him, wanted to give herself to him both physically and emotionally, but now she knew her last chance was gone. That freak Brice saw to that.

Lana curled up on her floor as the storm continued to rage on yet she was deaf to it over the sound of her own sobbing. She had never felt a hurt like this, it was like losing part of herself or someone she loved had died. The worst part of the pain was there was nothing she could do to numb it; it just kept on hurting with the same force and intensity of the initial blast for hours and hours.

"No… no… no…." Lana cried as her world came crashing down all around her. "Relics… I love you. You can't be, you just can't be!" She begged as the tears fell as heavy as the rain.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~ So yeah, I figure I let you all hanging long enough and put this up. Sadly things seem to be going from bad to worse, huh? Hope you enjoyed!**_


	36. Walk of Shame

Fox padded up the front steps of his home before he hesitated at the front door. Slowly and quietly the vulpine opened the door, his ears twitching around for the slightest sounds. When he heard his parents talking he loosened up, but he was still ready for danger. Being the son of an elite mercenary was at times as dangerous as being one. At any time, one of James' rivals or enemies could come for him just to get at his father. Knowing this, James taught Fox everything he knew so that if the day did come he'd be able to defend himself and the family if need be.

When Fox stepped in he walked into the dining room where his mother and father were. The look on his father's face was stoic while his mother's face was solemn which made the young vulpine cringe. He knew those looks, and he hated seeing them every time.

"Fox. Good." James stated and motioned for his son to sit with them. Fox obeyed his father and sat down next to his mother, putting his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"What is it this time, Dad?" Fox asked as he stared into the reflective shades.

James inhaled deeply and sighed. "The General hired Star Fox to do a reconnaissance sweep of Venom. Corneria is prepping for a preemptive strike. We're leaving today and the mission will take place in one two weeks."

Fox's muzzle fell as his father's words sank in. He had so many questions to ask but his father knew him well enough and was able to answer them before they were asked.

"We've intercepted several encrypted messages between the Venomians and the humans. The details are still being decoded to this day but from what we've translated, we're sure they're close to striking some sort of deal, which is why they've finally decided to stop dragging their knuckles across the ground and finally put a stop to Andross and his regime. It is our guess that the humans are plotting with the Venomians to attack Corneria." James told his son, making him one of the small number of people in the Lylat to know this.

"What about Relics? What's going to happen to him?" Fox asked, wishing he could see his father's eyes right now instead of the bottomless sunglasses.

"I don't know. So far he hasn't been tied to any of this but… if he _is_ involved he will be arrested and taken back to his people." James assured his son not wanting him to worry that his friend would be _executed_ as a spy rather than deported.

"James." The once silent Vixy whispered as she blinked away the tears in her eyes. "Don't go on this mission, please."

James frowned for a second before he kissed his wife. "I _have_ to, Vix. The outcome of the attack depends on us. If I back out now, they'll have to scramble to find a new group to take the job and will have to put off the attack. We _have_ to strike _now_ before the Venomian fleet is operational."

"Why does it matter? Venom's forces are not nearly as strong as Corneria's!" Vixy argued. "If we needed to, we could bombard their planet!"

"And what about the nine million natives?" James countered. "As easy as it would be to glass Venom, the public would riot because of all the innocent lives lost. A lot of people have family on Venom after all, plus, we don't know if there are human forces there or not. The last thing we need is to blindly jump into a war only to have both Venomians _and_ humans waiting for us with charged blasters."

A freezing chill ran down the back of Fox's tail and spine. "Dad, we're not going to war with the humans… are we?"

James smirked. "No son. The humans may not trust us right now and have every reason to hate us, but I've seen how you and Relics have become friends and I can't help but believe that we can all get along… somehow. Whether it takes a few months, a few years, or even a few decades, we'll come together."

A long time passed in silence before anyone said anything. James cleared his throat and stood up. "Vixy, could you go get Sherry please? I want to say goodbye to her before I go."

Vixy nodded and quietly walked out of the room to fetch their daughter. As she had left, James watched her go from behind his shades. He hated these pre-mission talks, but this one seemed far worse. Even he felt it; the small feeling of dread of this next mission. He used to feel it before every mission back when he was a young, bright eyed pilot who barely knew the difference from a fixed wing aircraft and a rotary wing aircraft. It had been years since he had felt anything but a stoic confidence before mission; it had been years since he had felt fear.

When Vixy was out of the room, James turned to his son and removed his shades, allowing their matching eyes to look into each other finally.

"Son… Fox." James began but could not decide if he should tell his son the truth about the humans. War was inevitable, the peace talks had been abandoned, and now war was just a small misunderstanding away. "Listen son, I know you've grown close with the human, but from now on I want you to separate yourself from him."

Fox's muzzle fell and he blurted out. "Why? He's my friend; one of the pack!"

"I know son, I know. Relics is a good kid and we owe him a lot, but I can't help shake the feeling that he is the key to all this. The humans haven't attacked yet because they're waiting for the absolute right time. They have a genetically altered agent in the city that is the heart of our government. I believe that he is the catalyst, and once he has made his move he _will_ start the war." James explained to the resentful young vulpine. "I want you to watch him and hopefully I'm wrong. If I am right then I trust you'll do what's right for our race."

"You want me to kill him. Don't you?" Fox asked, his voice cracking with rage.

James stared into his eyes and whispered. "Yes."

"He's my pack mate!" Fox hissed but kept his volume down so that his mother didn't hear him hollering at his father for suggesting he should kill Relics. "He saved Sherry's life and this is how you want me to repay him? I'd take a bullet for the guy!

"I know! He shaved Sherry's life and pack mate or not, he is a liability." James scolded. "I'm sorry, this is a lot to ask of you but you're the only one I can trust with this. I pray that my instincts are wrong on this, he's a good kid and I'd like to make him a part of the family pack one day, but this goes beyond us. If the humans start a war, there's a good chance they won't stop until they feel repaid for all the lives they lost on Mar Sara. How many people will die before they're bloodlust is sedated? With Relics unable to make a sneak attack, we'll have a better chance against them, and more lives will be spared."

Before Fox could respond, Vixy came back with a bundle of blankets in her arms.

"She's asleep. I couldn't bring myself to wake her." The vixen explained.

James turned to the two most important women of his life. He smiled as if nothing just happened and walked over to them. He gently wrapped his arm around Vixy's waist and beamed down at his daughter Sherry.

"She's going to be so beautiful when she grows up. Just like her mother." James said and bent down to his sleeping kit and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Goodbye Sherry, I'll be back before your birthday. I promise."

"Just come back safe, James. That's all she'll care about, no matter what day it is." Vixy murmured and pulled her husband into a deep kiss that made Fox avert his eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Vixy." James swore to his wife of almost twenty years.

James separated from his wife and looked to his only son. "Come here."

Fox obeyed his father, and when he got within two steps of his father he was wrapped in a tight embrace that he returned.

"Take care of the family while I'm gone. If things get out of hand, go to the Papetoon and wait at the Fox's Den until I get there. I love you son." James whispered to his son.

"I love you too, Dad." Fox whispered back as his father let go and headed for the door.

The cold autumn air blasted James' thick orange fur coat. He reached into his pockets for his sunglasses but he looked over at the dinning room table where he left them. At first he thought about going and getting them, but something held him back. Instead he looked at his family one more time and smiled.

"I'll be back soon. I promise."

The door closed behind him in slow motion. The sound of a car driving off notified the foxes that he was gone. Fox looked to his mother who seemed on the verge of breaking down. He reached out to her but she was already turning away and heading upstairs.

"I'm going to… Sherry… put her to bed." She said with difficulty as she began to choke up. She hadn't even made it up to the top of the stairs before she began crying. Fox's ears drooped as he knew that even if he went after her, there was nothing he could do to make her feel better.

They all felt it, the foreboding feeling of dread and fear about this mission. Fox had seen his father leave for dozens of other missions all throughout his life, but none of them did he feel this weak and helpless. He had always revered his father and as a child he saw him as an indestructible hero that he wished to be. Now he was afraid he would never see him again, but he knew his father would never make a promise he wouldn't keep. If he said he would come back, he would come back, until then he would take care of his family.

The vulpine nearly turned to head up to his room but a small reflective glare caught his eye. He looked over to the dining room table and saw his father's sunglasses. His heart skipped a beat and for a second he thought he could quickly grab them and run them out to his dad but he was already long gone. Still, he took solace in a warm comforting feeling of knowing that he would return them to his father when he came back. Until then he'd keep them safe like he would the family until he came back.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The human's eyes snapped open. Where was he? He didn't recognize the ceiling he was under, or the rather beguiling scent that covered the other scents of sweat and other smells he hadn't smelt in a while. He was scared to move and his body was wracked with ache like he had slept on a bed of rocks which all varied in height and rigidity. Relics let out a long groan of pain and slowly sat up.

'_What the fuck did I do?'_ Relics asked himself as he froze halfway up and gazed in horror at the room he was in. He did not recognize this room, it was so girly filled with posters of bands with hot looking guys and nearly everything else was pink. It made him want to vomit but he already wanted to before.

Then he looked down and saw he was in bed with someone else. She was sleeping soundly, her red feathers slightly ruffled, and the only thing covering her modesty was the blanket draped over her body.

'_NO GOD! No, please God, no. No. No! NOOOOO!'_ Relics thought but could not alter the fact that he had made one of the worst mistakes of his life, no matter how much he bawled in his head.

Panic began to overtake the human and he slowly slipped out of bed without disturbing his partner. His body felt so sticky and cold, it didn't help any when he broke out in a cold sweat as he quietly retrieved his pants, shirt, jacket, and socks. His underwear was still on him, much to his relief, but there was little to no relief to be found with the horrible thought of what he had done hanging in his mind. Like a ninja he dressed himself and tiptoed to the door. He had to escape, he didn't know why, but he had to get away. Something was telling him that he needed to be somewhere else, he had to be doing something else, but what he had no idea.

In just under a minute, Relics had redressed himself and run out the door. He didn't stop until he was out the front door.

'_I've gotta get out of here. Why's it have to be raining now of all times? Fuck it.'_ Relics thought and started running back towards the school.

The suburbs were all but deserted because of the storm, everyone smart enough would be inside in their warm houses. Despite the cold and the rain, Relics kept his jacket open and let the water wash over him. It was so refreshing letting the filth on his body get rinsed so that it didn't feel like it was hardening and crusting on his skin, and even as he kept running for almost a half an hour it kept his body cool. The monotonous running allowed his mind to stay preoccupied more with the motions than thoughts, but before he knew it he was back at school which was entirely deserted.

Despite it being the wrong thing to do during a lightning storm, Relics took shelter under a large tree in front of the school. He wouldn't care if he got struck by lightning; he just wanted to get out of the damn rain. He came to a stop at a small bench under the tree and plopped all his weight on it having ran three and a half miles but was still so close to his problems. A few minutes went by and Relics realized by looking at his wrist com's clock that school got out a half an hour ago and Jason should have been here by now or at least have called. Unfortunately for him, Jason was nowhere to be seen and that left him with a lot of time to think.

'_What the Hell did I do?'_ He asked himself as he tried to retrace his steps. It all started in the morning, he talked with some of his friends only to find out from them Lana was kissing some other guy. When he confronted them he almost got his ass handed to him, and Lana refused to even look him in the eyes. That hurt him the most; someone he considered so important in his life wouldn't even give him the courtesy of telling him why she was hurting him so much. If she would have just said something, if she would have just given him a reason, it wouldn't have hurt like it did. In the end, no cause or excuse was given, she baited his heart and he fell for it thinking he finally found someone who might love him despite how different he was. He felt deadened inside without her and his nightmares began to crawl out from the suppressed dark folds of his mind.

He thought he was over it and had put the terrible things he saw behind him, but all the therapy in the world couldn't help him now. Everything came crashing back down on him, the attack on Mar Sara, the excruciating pain of the DNA enhancing process, his father's death, and the overwhelming pressure of being the catalyst for a war unlike any other. It was all too much for one man to bear, let alone a young man who had no one he could turn to. His sole reason for living was not to bring peace, but war, one that would make the galaxy a darker place to be. Only a few people could ever understand what he felt like, being Death the destroyer of worlds. No matter how much he hated it now however, he wanted that title at one point, craved it in fact, so that he might avenge his father and every life lost on Mar Sara, but now he just wanted it all to end.

These people didn't deserve obliteration; they were people just like him. They all had feelings, loved ones, dreams, and hopes. Most everyone here looked up to him as a celebrity, or even someone who would deliver them from a godforsaken war of attrition and spite.

Tears began to roll down his cheeks that were masked by the rainwater still dripping off his hair onto his face. He made so many friends here, met so many wonderful people, was accepted into a family with open arms, and yet he would repay them with war. The universe was a big place, but not big enough for two superpowers hell-bent on dominating the other.

The human wiped his eyes just as a horn jerked him out of his sad little world. He saw the familiar black SUV pulling up and the second it parked Jason was out and running towards him.

"I'm _so_ sorry Relics, I lost track of time, Chloe and I fell asleep when I got back and we only just now woke up!" The canine shouted over the storm and by the time he ran the thirty feet to the tree he was soaked all the way through his fur.

'_He doesn't even know, not even the smallest idea of what I really am, what I'm capable of or the burdens I have to bear.'_ Relics thought as he gave a small deceiving smirk.

"It's alright Jason, I'm just glad you showed up as soon as you could." Relics replied and shivered as a gust of wind whipped him with rain and unsympathetic cold.

Jason tilted his head to the right as he saw the red in the human's eyes. "Relics, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Relics replied, knowing that he saw his red eyes. "It's just some rain that got in my eyes and irritated them."

The German Shepard nodded. "Come on, let's get you home and by the fire."

'_He cares so much about me. He might mess up time to time but he really does care a lot about me and not because it's his job.'_ Relics thought as the duo ran back to the car despite the fact that they were already as wet as they could get.

'_Would he kill me if I gave him the chance? If he knew I was the sole deciding factor of when the war started, would he kill me? For Chloe's sake he would, he'd do anything to protect his family or his mate, but as for me, I'm just some guy living in his house that eats his food that he might consider as a friend. Why wouldn't he kill me? For all I know he's probably thinking of the most efficient way in case I flip out.'_ He kept on thinking while they drove through the bleak city with the heat cranked all the way up.

"Listen Relics, I really am sorry for being so late." Jason began and before Relics could tell him it was alright, Jason kept talking. "Chloe and I have been trying a lot to make a kid again, I got so tired I fell asleep and didn't even think to set an alarm so I'd be here on time. If anything would have happened to you… I…."

"It's okay Jason-" Relics began but was cut off abruptly.

"_No_, it's _not_ okay Relics!" Jason barked making the human flinch with shock. Jason wasn't one to express his feelings with many people, save his wife. At the most the canine showed the standard macho emotions like a bro. "It's my responsibility to keep you safe, provide a home, and kill any sons-a-bitches that come near you with a knife! Yet I keep failing you at every turn."

"Bad things happen, Jason and it's my fault most of the time anyway." Relics argued but Jason slammed his fist on the steering wheel, putting a somewhat noticeable dent in it.

"I should be better than this, I'm a god damn Special Operative for God's sake." The dog growled more to himself than anything. His past failures were eating him up inside, coupled by the fact that yet another pregnancy test turned up negative drove the man into a seething frustrated mood.

"I'd understand if you would like to have me replaced." Jason said suddenly, catching Relics off guard.

"Replace you?" Relics asked. "Jason, I know you have your flaws but there is no one I would rather have to watch my back."

"Why though? If I can forget to pick you up on time, then why keep me around? You're so important; you're like a fucking celebrity." The canine argued.

"Because you're more to me than a bodyguard." Relics found himself saying. "You've been a good friend and welcomed me into your home. You mean a lot to me and after today, I find that I need to keep my true friends close."

The canine blinked. "A day like today? What happened?"

A hard lump formed in the human's throats and his eyes re-wetted.

"Lana… I…" Relics began but it hurt too much. He was just thankful that they pulled up into Jason's house. The human got out quickly and walked up to the front porch but he wasn't fast enough.

"Relics, what happened?" Jason asked just as Chloe opened the front door.

Relics looked to Chloe and immediately she knew something was wrong because of the red in his eyes. She knew all about his problems with Lana, but she had no idea they were this bad. It was like he could tell her with just a look that things had turned really bad. The human tore his eyes away from the panther, unable to look another person in the eyes without feeling shame.

"I did something bad." Relics admitted as the rain continued to pelt him and the canine.

Once more the painful inflammation in his throat kept the human silent. Not a single care was given for her own discomfort and feline aversion to the rain when Chloe stepped out into the storm and hugged her kit.

"It's okay sweetheart, come inside." She purred for him and led him inside.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The minx gazed at herself in the mirror with deadened eyes. Her eye shadow was smudged and her eyeliner was running down her matted fur. Her shoulder length hair was tangled and messy like she had ran through a gale force wind. She hadn't slept at all last night, the pain in her heart would not allow it and she cried all day when she got home and most of the night until the whites of her eyes were as red as her irises.

Lana felt as bad as she looked, her heart was in pieces and her head throbbed painfully in one of the worst headaches she ever had. If she even thought of Relics she felt even worse and like she would throw up. She felt so betrayed by him, but it was impossible to blame him. If it weren't for Bryce he would still love her and not be fucking that slut Melina. She was just waiting, biding her time for something to come up so she could steal him and dig her talons into him.

Sighing deeply, Lana reached into her desk's drawer and pulled out a comb and brush. First she attempted to clean the smudged makeup off her face before she began to comb the tangles out of her hair, pulling several hairs out as she didn't care to be gentle at the moment. Once her hair was straightened out she began to brush her fur, eliminating the patches of rebellious fur pointed in every other direction than the one she wanted.

She had to look good, she had to look pretty. The daughter and sole heir of an up and coming medical research company could not go out into public not looking her best. Rumors were already spreading about her cheating and breaking Relics' heart though. Half of the school wouldn't care but the other half that saw Relics as a celebrity would certainly shun her and call her out and once the other half saw this they'd join in. They'd all torment her, call her names, make her into a pariah, just like before.

Memories of her past resurfaced from her mental suppression. She tried to flush them out but it was impossible and she was starting to relive her past of being an outcast.

The minx began to growl and then slammed her fists on her desk. This was not her fault, none of this was. She wanted to make him pay for this but she knew she couldn't, he was far stronger than her.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door and Lana meowed. "Come in."

A violet panther slowly peaked into her room and smiled. "Lana, is everything alright?"

Lana summoned all the acting skills she had to put on the best smile she could.

"Yes mother, everything is fine." She lied but was sincere enough to get away with lying to her mother's face.

"You look nice, Lana." Angie pointed out as she stood in the doorway. "Are you ready for school?"

The minx nodded and watched her mother slowly walk into her room like an uninvited guest. She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated. Lana wanted to ask her mother, to beg her mother to leave and if she could go with her.

Lana's father and mother were born and raised on Zoness and loved the planet more than any other. That was why they established their business's headquarters there. Unfortunately on the Earthen calendar of February twelfth, twenty-five eighty-nine, during a routine business trip to Corneria, a very pregnant Angie began to feel some very painful contractions. After a quick rush to the hospital, little Lana was born.

Xavier and Angie rushed Lana to Zoness so as to keep her infant self from registering the scent of Corneria as her home planet in her rapidly developing mind. Sadly, after a few short years it had become apparent that Lana considered Corneria her home, no matter how pretty Zoness was with its uncountable islands and gorgeous beaches. Wanting nothing but the best for their daughter, the Tress family bought a second home on Corneria where they'd raise their little girl but all the while making numerous trips to Zoness for both business and vacation.

Now however, Lana just wanted to get away, to escape all the soon to come shunning and tormenting. She doubted she had any friends in the group now, and Fox would most likely kick her out after hearing her side of the story which she would only be able to tell just half of it. She also doubted that her track and field friends would stay with her for long; no one wants to go down with the ship after all.

"Mom… can we go to Zoness?" Lana asked making her mother's ears perk up and tail swish enthusiastically but only for a moment. Her daughter had never once asked to go to Zoness; in fact, she dodged most every trip to Zoness she could.

"Sweetie, is something the matter?" Angie asked her daughter as she tried to catch her elusive eyes.

"I just want to get away for a while, that's all." Lana admitted but wanted to tell her nothing more.

"Did you… did something happen with the human?" Angie asked timidly like she was tiptoeing through a minefield. She didn't want to drive her daughter away and make her retract her request to go to Zoness.

"No." Lana stated firmly but she might as well have said yes. "I just need a break, a long break."

The panther gazed at her saddened daughter. Angie wanted nothing more than to whisk her daughter away on the next flight out, but she wanted her daughter to be happy far more.

"Okay baby, we can go to Zoness. The next flight if you want." Angie promised but Lana shook her head.

"No, I have to say goodbye to my friends first." She said meaning her track and field teammates and friends. She doubted anyone from the group would even give her the time of day now. They'd shun her like an exile; no longer a part of the pack.

"Alright, I'll talk to Dad at work and we'll get everything in order." Angie said and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "I love you sweetie, I hope you'll have a good time on Zoness."

"I love you too mom." Lana meowed happily to make it look like she was excited. "I'm sure I'll love it on Zoness."

'_At least there I can finally get away, and hopefully him out of my heart.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~ Hey everybody. Just wanted to throw a few things out. First thing, I finally got around to drawing a picture of Relics, a link is on my profile to my Deviantart account. Second, I'm currently revising the older chapters of this fic fixing up spelling errors, grammatical errors, continuity errors and some other things. Third, as I said before, we actually are in the final stretch of the story. If I had to guess, there will be downwards of eight chapters left.**_


	37. Tearing Away

The red eyed minx quietly walked down the hallway past the groups and cliques all around her. Many of them didn't take notice of her until she was spotted by a group of girls. One of them began to whisper to the group and immediately their eyes all turned on her, every one of them full of hatred and bitterness. She looked away, her ears drooping hoping not to hear their harsh words and whispers but her hearing was too great. Every word gave her a cut but they were not nearly as deep or as painful as the ones she bore years before. She was stronger now; her skin and fur was thickened.

Lana walked past them and kept telling herself this was only temporary, in just a few days she would start all over on a new planet. These people here would not be able to follow her, nor would their remarks.

She had almost made it to her next class when she suddenly bumped into someone. She stumbled back pinning her ears back and started apologizing feverously.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I'm so sorry-" She managed to say before she saw someone she was praying not to see. "F-Fox!"

The vulpine towered over her and was even taller than Relics; the dirty scowl on his face only made him more intimidating. He folded his arms at her, his green eyes still piercing into her mind. She knew what was coming, as alpha it was his job to drive out a member who went against the pack. The minx doubted he would have any problems with it after what she did to his friend and since she was never fully welcomed by him to begin with. There was always an under layer of doubt and mistrust he harbored for her because of her past relationship with his enemy, Wolf.

"Lana." The vulpine growled and kept the growl going in his throat for a while before saying. "I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what this is about."

The minx looked away in shame. "No. No you don't."

"Find comfort with another pack, you are not welcome in mine." Fox echoed the words spoken to so many others cast out of packs before. Surprisingly though, it was hard for the vulpine. He hadn't cast anyone out in a while, not since he assumed the role as pack alpha. It was strange, at first he thought he'd take pleasure and pride in casting her out for what she did to his friend, but instead _he_ felt like the bad guy suddenly.

"I'm sorry, you were all such great friends and I betrayed you all." She said which only made Fox feel worse.

Fox swallowed hard but turned his back to her and walked away. What she said made him feel sick, like he did something very wrong. Still, he shrugged it off and told himself she was no longer a part of his pack so she wasn't of his concern. The vulpine moved on leaving Lana far behind him and the number of people still in the hallways began to weaken.

The minx still had a long way to go before she got to her class and didn't want to be late on her last day of school on Corneria. She tried not to think about what Fox had just done, knowing full well that she was out of the pack the moment Brice came into her life and fucked it all up. Even if she got her family off world and far away from Corneria, they'd still be in danger from him and the people he worked for.

Lana made it to some stairs that would take her right to her next class when she felt a strange feeling of being followed as she made it halfway up the stairs to the large stair. She swiveled her ear around and found that she was right. The minx looked behind her but stiffened and spun around quickly.

She recognized the woman behind her instantly; a burning primal desire to claw the robin's face off rose within her. Yet before it could manifest fully, the feeling died out as she knew it wouldn't matter or make her feel any better after losing the one guy in her life that treated her right. Melina just played her cards right as an opportunist and took him when he needed someone most.

"Lana, I was hoping I'd catch up to you today." Melina said most unlike how friends would talk to each other. There was a sinister tone in it, almost like a villain would gloat over someone just before she killed them.

"Melina." Was all Lana could say in response, her ex-friend's name rolling off her tongue with a bitter taste like it came up from her stomach.

"I just wanted to tell you in person that I'm sorry Relics missed your call, he was kind of busy fucking me." The woman said with an avian grin.

Lana's ears flared and the urge to beat the other woman rose again, but she knew that she was just looking for a rise from her. She was gloating that she took her man from her when in fact he was lost to the minx the second he saw her being kissed by Brice.

"Well I'm… happy for you two. I just hope Relics doesn't catch anything from you." Lana growled which surprised herself as she told herself she would not play the game she had already lost.

Melina stepped closer to the shorter hybrid before slapping her across the face. Lana's head pulled hard to the right and stayed there as she let the pain of the attack sink in. She would not give in; she would not give Melina what she wanted.

"Did you know he was calling out my name last night? Oh Melina, oh Melina." The avian said mimicking the human. "I fucked his brains out and even let him cum inside me. I wonder, did you ever get to experience it or did you just lead him on like you did Wolf and I?"

Lana's sharp red eyes flashed to the avian. "What are you talking about, slut?"

"You might try to hide it, but deep down you're a self-centered bitch that loves to hurt people. You left Wolf when he became inconvenient for you. But when you were with him all you ever did was hurt people and take from them, even your supposed friends." Melina hissed.

"So… you did all of this just to get back at me?" Lana asked as Melina laughed in her throat.

"And it felt so good doing it too. Your little boy toy hates you so much while he's wrapped around my little finger. It's so funny how quickly he went from loving you to fucking your supposed friend." The robin said as she giggled with delight.

The minx was near her breaking point. Every word her friend from childhood said cut her core spilling not blood, but anger, grief, and shame. It was hard not to attack her, make her pay for touching Relics, seducing him in his weakened state. Lana extended her claws and her arm tensed as if to strike her newfound nemesis, but she hesitated. She promised herself years ago she would never fight again unless it was necessary. So many scars she inflicted on others when she was younger for the pettiest reasons. So, with body aching self-control, the gentle hybrid retracted her claws.

"I'm sorry." The minx whispered, stopping the robin mid giggle.

"What?" She asked giving the minx a suspicious look.

"I'm sorry I made you hate me so much that you'd go to these lengths to get back at me, Mel." Lana said, using Melina's childhood nickname. "I wish I'd have listened to you back then and stayed away from Wolf and… you were right. It was the worst mistake of my life and I treated you so badly, called you names, stole from you, hurt you, and publically humiliated you just to bring myself up. I am the worst excuse of a person, and I regret hurting you every minute of my life and will until I die."

Melina stared at the minx as tears freely fell from her glistening eyes. It had been years since she had seen Lana cry and desired to see it for so long, yet even now she could take no satisfaction out of it. It was not as she expected, she wanted to see her break down, weep uncontrollably while being laughed at by everyone around her.

As she stared down at the silently crying minx, she was reminded of the times back when they were just chicks and kits. They used to play together for hours, having the best time two kids could have. The two Cornerians did everything together; dress up, predator and prey, sleepovers, sharing secret crushes, and typical horsing around. As they got older, things started to change as rapidly as they did. Melina's body was quick to start developing and was the first girl in school to have b cup sized breasts. Several of Lana's crushes would often ignore her and go for the avian instead, this kept happening for months until finally Lana started to mature. Regardless, the damage had been done and what was once a beautiful and innocent friendship, started to turn into a vain and jealous acquaintance.

When the two girls started middle school, the hung out together but not nearly as often as they did when they were kids. Time went by and Lana's insecurity and vanity, made from watching so many people flock to Melina while leaving her in the dark, started to get to her. She started thrusting herself into the center of attention, picking fights, starting drama, and getting into trouble frequently. This alienated her from her old friends and got her mixed up in the wrong crowd, which was where she met Wolf.

Regardless, Melina stood by her best friend, even if her best friend treated her like shit. She put up with her because she believed that Lana was still the nice and sweet girl she was before middle school, at least until the day her life was ruined.

Lana wasn't always so bad, but when around her boyfriend he acted like a stimulus to her behavior and she would go all out just to impress him. One day when she and Melina had been arguing, they happened to be arguing in front of Wolf. When Melina called her out, blaming Wolf for her being such a bitch, Lana saw a golden opportunity to impress Wolf.

The minx launched an unexpected attack on Melina and beat her until she was bloodied in the face, but she didn't stop there. In front of everyone, in the school halls, Lana tore the robin's shirt to shreds and cut her bra exposing her breasts to everyone around, which consequently got her and Wolf expelled.

It was these memories that Melina tried to forget, tried to forgive, but she couldn't. Her love for Lana turned into hatred that day. The minx came to Melina several months later, single, broken, and on the verge of suicide. Yet for some reason she felt herself compelled to help her, even if she wanted the minx dead.

"You sicken me." Melina snapped. "You think that just because you start crying again that I'll forgive you, just like that!? You beat me and humiliated me, then came back crying and begging for help just a few months later, acting as if NOTHING HAPPENED!" She screamed making Lana flinch and started to step back, but Melina started advancing on her. "I SHOULD HAVE LET YOU KILL YOURSELF! I don't even know why I did save your life!"

Melina was on the verge of repaying Lana back for everything she had done to her, but she wanted more than just a physical beating. She wanted Lana to hate herself again and feel like there was no way out. She wanted the minx to kill herself, to die feeling miserable and alone.

"You saved me, because you are a good person." Lana said even after what she had done. "You saved me because you are a good and caring soul. I was so jealous of you because I felt inferior, like you were better than me… and you are. If I could I'd go back and stop myself from ever hurting you because you were one of the greatest things to come into my life."

Melina realized at that moment that her plan had not worked. Try as she might she still wanted to live, and it only made her hate the red eyed minx more.

"I deserve everything wrong that comes to me, and I don't blame you for what you've done. You-" Lana went on before being silenced by another slap, this one making her ears ring.

"Shut up, don't try to take this away from me!" Melina hissed grabbing Lana by her shirt's collar and pulling her in so she could glare straight into her eyes. "This is not over, I hate you and I _will_ destroy everything you love. And when I do I'll laugh as you pull the trigger of your own life while fucking your human boyfriend right in front of you."

And with that promise hanging in the air, Melina left.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics tapped on his desk with his pen agitatedly. The last place he wanted to be was at school where _she_ might find him. It's not that he wanted to avoid her, but he felt so awkward and embarrassed, plus he didn't know how she would react. Melina had his number but hadn't texted or called him all the night before.

Miyu and Fara could tell something was upsetting him, but they figured it was because he was about Lana. They tried comforting him by making small talk, sharing the candy and food they brought in especially for him, and offered for him to copy off their work but none of that worked. He felt like he was a thousand miles away with the stare he was giving off into space as nothing they said to him got him to come around. Eventually they decided it was best that they leave him alone until they got him in a more private area so they could talk and console him more in depth.

'_Sooner or later I'll have to see her. She's going to want an explanation for why I ran out on her… I still can't fucking believe I did it with her! What kind of sick bastard am I? I just got my heart torn out and I go and have sex with the first girl that opens up her legs! It's not like it was even that good, can't remember most of it.'_ He thought to himself.

Finally the bell rang and Relics nearly jumped out of his desk and ran to the door. He heard Fara and Miyu call out to him but he ignored them. As much as he appreciated them trying to help, he just wanted to be left alone. But fate was a cruel mistress.

"Hey, Boo!" A lovely voice said from behind him before he felt the air being crushed out of his body.

'_Boo?!'_ Relics thought confusedly before another loving surge of strength almost snapped him in half.

The human let out a painful yelp of pain just before he was let go of. He turned around; ready to smack somebody but then he realized who was hugging him. Her feathers were ruffled together and she was as close to a smile as an avian could be. She was also wearing the tightest clothing, her blouse was nearly about to burst and the poor buttons were almost trembling as her amazing bust threatened to pop out.

"Melina." Relics blurted out as he forced himself to look away from her gorgeous body. "How ya been?"

Melina moaned with delight before leaning into his body and chest, wrapping her hands around him and hugging him much softer this time. All around them people were already talking about what was transpiring. As usual they were all pulling out their phones, whispering amongst themselves, and drama was manifesting rapidly. Regardless, he embraced her back as she was the next best thing to having Lana.

"I've been so great. I missed you yesterday after you left, I just _had _to see you so I skipped class." She said making the human stiffen as he realized that him running out on her was about to bite him on the ass.

"Sorry, I had to get home otherwise Jason would have had my ass." Relics lied and prayed she wouldn't question him.

"I understand." She cooed nearly making the human let out a great sigh. "They gotta keep tabs on you, don't want you getting hurt or anything."

"Yeah." Relics said, going with whatever she said just hoping she'd change the subject.

The bird pulled back but took hold of him by the arm and started walking with him down the hallways. She was relishing in all the attention she and Relics were getting and she rested her head on his shoulder further amplifying the situation that was quickly turning into a confirmed human-Cornerian relationship. Most everyone had talked about the human and the minx going out, and there were actual school debates over whether or not they were indeed going out. Yet now as they strolled down the hallways arm in arm, all that was thrown out the window.

"I was going to text you, but I was too tired yesterday." She said and then whispered in his ear slyly. "What you did to me yesterday, I'm still sore from it all. When can I get you back in my bed?"

The human turned a fierce shade of red and began to radiate heat. Immediately his mind began to fall back to when he made perhaps one of the worst mistakes of his life. He remembered it started off innocent enough; Melina was just trying to be a good friend and comfort him in his time of need. But then it escalated quickly. The next thing he knew, he was caressing her large breasts and feeling the soft down that covered them. After that, it was just a blur that he regretted.

"About that, you think we might be going a little too fast?" Relics asked, hoping he'd slowly distance himself from the relationship until one day it just ended abruptly.

"Too fast? If you say so, but to be honest I love it when things are fast." Melina chirped.

'_Come on, work with me here! I'm just trying to weasel out of this without hurting your feelings!'_ Relics groaned to himself as it seemed Melina was hell-bent on making this relationship work no matter how he tried to wriggle out.

"If you want though, we can slow it a bit. Course, I'm not gonna let you hold out for too long though." She said and gave his hand a squeeze.

'_Curse me and my amazing libido!'_ Relics thought hating himself even more.

"Thanks. It's not you or anything, it's just I need to get my head straight. Lana-"

"You don't have to explain to me. I understand, you're not the first person she's hurt." Melina said with a noticeable irk in her voice. Relics was about to ask her about what she meant when she finally pulled away from him. "Well, I have to get back to school. I'll see you later, Boo."

"See ya." Relics said when the robin hugged him again, this time much softer and affectionately than her monstrous organ crusher hugs from before.

He watched her walk away towards the school exit, her tail feathers ruffling together in the wind behind her. She was taller than Lana, had a bigger bust than Lana, and Melina had not used his heart as a litter box like Lana had, but it did not stop him from replacing the avian with the minx in his mind's eye.

'_Even after all she's done I still love her… how pathetic am I? I should just kill them all, it's not like anyone really cares. They're just using me to their own ends.'_ Relics brooded in his slowly darkening mind. _'Chloe and Jason are just using me as a proxy until they make a kid of their own, then guess where I'm gonna end up? Right back in that cold and empty house with a print of their front door on my ass. And the pack, they're just sucking up to me while brandishing me around like a trophy just for their own popularity. Hell, even Fox… god damn it.'_

His common sense caught up to him in his maddening little world. Fox had been his friend since the day they met; he was always there if he needed him. The vulpine even took his side over Lana who had been his friend long before he even knew humans existed. If there was anyone he could trust it was his friend Fox; he'd never abandon him.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

A lone auburn vixen walked down the deserted and wet streets of Corneria. She was not bothering anyone, just minding her own business when suddenly she felt herself slam right into an unexplainable wall. There wasn't anything in her way but she still hit something and went down hard. She let out a small whine as she cringed up and tried to suppress the pain. The vixen opened her eyes and looked around to see what hit her, but couldn't find the cause for her sudden slam into the ground.

After a moment she got back up and tried to put it behind her. As she walked off the wall suddenly appeared behind her and watched her go. The wall turned out to be tall person fully clad in armor. Yet as quickly as he appeared he once more disappeared and continued on his way down the street, like a ghost haunting the streets, unseen but sometimes felt by the unlucky soul.

"Captain Sharp… home base… please report your… location." A female voice spoke to him through their radio link in two and three second bursts of chatter and radio silence so to throw off anyone trying to track them.

"Home base… Sharp… roving for news." The man replied back as he looked around the surprisingly beautiful regal but future designs of their buildings. What really surprised him were the parked cars that were nearly identical to age old human car designs with only a few minor different details.

"I'll be back soon… Sharp out." He said not wanting to be disturbed anymore. It was a month before the next phase of the mission would start, and he wanted to at least stretch his legs. Being cooped up in a dusty old Cornerian building with hardly anything to do but wait around and watch god awful Cornerian programming. Every day there was something on half the channels about the human exchange student or humanity in general.

He and the two other agents never paid much attention, but apparently almost two weeks ago something major happened that got all of Corneria in a frenzy of drama.

'_With all the fur flying around him and that cat thing, you'd almost think they were fucking.'_ Sharp thought to himself.

The man kept thinking as he walked down the streets, avoiding puddles so he wouldn't give himself away to any random passerby.

'_I can't wait until this planet is nothing but ash. Anything would be better than this. While that little bastard walks around enjoying himself like an over privileged, teenaged celebrity, I'm surrounded by the enemy and bored out of my mind!'_ Sharp scowled in his head. _'As much fun as it is knocking these animals on their asses, it gets old.'_

The man sighed as he came to a rather populated area and he decided it would be best if he went back. He'd been out for about hour now and the cloaking system was about to be fully drained and in need of recharging.

He'd just turned around when he heard everyone start gasping and talking. For a second he thought his cloaking field had failed and everyone could see him. He turned around and reached for the gun at his hip but saw that nobody was looking at him and instead were focused on the large television screens mounted to the surrounding skyscrapers.

"The peace talks with the humans have failed, their negotiators have withdrawn and we no longer have any kind of contact with them." A tom cat reported on every one of the screens making Sharp stiffen. "They've shut themselves away entirely leaving us all to wonder what will happen next."

The invisible man hadn't even made it a step before his compatriots were trying to contact him.

"Sharp you need to get back now, the mission's been changed."

"I'm on my way Miranda; I'll be there in ten minutes." Sharp said without care to keep the radio line as brief as possible before taking off running back towards their base in the city.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

"Thanks Fox, how about tomorrow?" Relics asked as he walked up to the front door of Chloe's and Jason's home.

"Yeah sure, just get some sleep buddy. We'll hang out tomorrow." Fox replied with honest sincerity of understanding despite being blown off again this week. The week before he only managed to get Relics to hang out twice, and that didn't turn out so well since Lana's betrayal had only just sunk in fully. "See ya at school."

"See ya, bro." Relics replied and the two hung up.

The human walked through the front door of his supposed home and closed the door behind him just as Jason pulled out of the driveway so fast the tires of the SUV squealed obnoxiously loud. Relics looked around to see if Chloe was waiting for him and he was thankful she wasn't today. He didn't see Lana all day, and in truth it was a rather easy and uneventful day but it still wore him out. His body and mind had switched into auto pilot through the rest of the day, smiling, waving, being a good model of humanity while keeping his inner feelings hidden away.

'_I'm not going to give them the pleasure of seeing me break down. I'm stronger than them!'_ Relics thought as he started heading upstairs when he heard a loud scream.

Without any hesitation Relics started running up the stairs two at a time until he reached the top and when he did he ran to Chloe and Jason's room fearing the worst. He barged through the door and looked around, ready to murder any home invaders without a moment's regret but he was caught off guard by the violet and blue blur that rushed him.

"RELICS!" Chloe squealed at the top of her lungs while hugging him around the waist and hoisting him up into the air despite him being bigger than her.

'_Why must all the women in my life be freakishly strong and want to kill me with love and affection?'_ Relics wondered as he fought to pry Chloe's iron grip loose so he could breathe.

"Mom… please!" Relics wheezed as his vision started to go blurry. Luckily she released him before he passed out but then she started jumping around while holding on to him bringing him along with her. "Mom! What's wrong?"

"Oh baby, nothing! Nothing's wrong! EVERYTHING IS FUCKIN' AMAZING!" She cried out before laughing from the bottom of her stomach. Before Relics could ask why she looked at him dead in the eye with the largest smile he'd ever seen her wear and she said. "I'm pregnant!"

At first Relics felt a massive sense of excitement bubble up inside him for her, yet it only re-confirmed his assumption that she was just going to kick him to the curb now that she had a child of her very own now. Chloe claimed him, told him that he was her son, but how long would that last now that she had a Cornerian baby, not just a teenaged human?

"That's great, mom!" Relics said putting on the best fake smile he had and hugged her tightly. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you sweetie, thank you! Just think, you're going to have a baby brother or sister soon!" Chloe said as she hugged him back and rocked back and forth.

'_Oh I'm sure.'_

"Does Jason know yet?" Relics asked to which Chloe shook her head.

"Not yet, but… his birthday is next month and I think it would be so great to surprise him then." Chloe thought aloud.

'_Oh yeah, all guys want to know that their girl's pregnant on their birthday.'_ Relics thought but couldn't help but agree with her regardless. Jason wanted a kid just as much as Chloe, if not even more so.

"But what are you going to do until then?" Relics asked.

"Well, I guess I'm going to pretend I'm not and stay the course. Hopefully he won't break me before then. Sorry dear." Chloe added with a giggle as Relics cringed at the thought of Jason parking his mother.

"What about a name? Do you have any ideas yet?" Relics asked losing interest in the conversation by the second.

'_I wonder if I could get her by some stairs?'_

"Not yet, I'll think about it but I want Jason to help choose." Chloe purred and started bouncing around happily like a kitten. "I'm so happy right now! Now I'll have two wonderful kits!"

"Yeah I'm sure." Relics said under his breath which made the panther stop mid jump. She turned around and looked at her supposedly happy kit. She was rather good at reading people, even if they were human.

"Relics, honey is there something wrong?" She asked tilting her head at him questioningly.

"No mom, I really am happy for you." Relics lied again and it showed with tiny twitches in his eyes and lips. It only got worse for him when she squinted at him.

"Don't lie to me, Relics." Chloe said with a small feline growl in her throat. "You know I hate liars."

"I'm not lying!" Relics argued raising his tone of voice at Chloe. "Why wouldn't I be happy you're having a kid? It's not like you're going to replace me or anything!"

The feline's purple eyes blinked. "Replace you? Relics! I love you! You're my damn son and if you think you're getting replaced than you're grounded!"

"Oh, I'm _really_ your son?" Relics asked skeptically. "Do you honestly think I believe you when you say you love me!?"

The whole room suddenly froze and Chloe's muzzle fell. The hurtful things he had said surprised her but not as much as it surprised himself. He really liked Chloe, and before his life started crashing down all around him, he genuinely thought of her as his mother. Yet all the cuts and pains inside of him made him lash out for no real reason on someone who loved him. Before he could even begin to apologize, salt was added to the wounds from the tears coursing down the panther's face.

"Mom… I'm sorry." Relics whispered and tried to hug her but she stepped away.

"I think you should go." Chloe said with a shaky voice.

"Mom-" Relics repeated before Chloe lashed back.

"GO! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU UNGRATEFUL CHILD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as more and more tears fell.

Relics moved quickly to obey her and ran out of the room and didn't stop until he was out of the house and on the sidewalk staring back at the closest thing to a family he had since his was taken away. As much as he'd have liked to blame Chloe for perhaps overreacting, he knew it was his fault. He ruined an incredible moment for her, and spit in her face when she said she would still love him even after having another kid.

'_Why the fuck did I do that?'_ Relics thought as he started to shiver. He wanted to go back inside but he dared not show his face to Chloe after what he did. Instead he started walking to keep himself warm and distance himself from yet another mistake he'd made.

'_She didn't deserve that! Mom even told you that she would still love you, yet you had to open your god damn mouth and question her! After all that she's done for you, after all the SHIT problems you flung at her and she stood by your side the entire time! You fucking, ungrateful, piece of shit!'_ Relics yelled at himself, wishing he could literally beat himself up.

About a half an hour passed before he realized he was still walking. He had walked deeper into the suburbs, away from the richer sector and more towards the more middle to lower class area. The human looked around and figured he was somewhere close by to Miyu or even Fox's house but didn't really want to engage in any more social interaction, especially since he was liable to hurt more people in his life.

Figuring he should give Chloe even more time so that she wouldn't kill him when he got back, Relics kept moving but decided to back track so he wouldn't get lost. As he walked back he noticed that hardly anyone was outside, probably because he was the only one stupid enough to get himself kicked out into below freezing temperatures. He wasn't entirely alone as far as he could tell because he could hear footsteps behind him, prompting him to turn around and see who it was. Strangely though, he must have been hearing things because when he did no one was there.

Shrugging to himself, Relics kept walking. Before he could lash himself even more, he heard the sound of footsteps again. This time he quickly whipped but the second verse was the same as the first; nothing.

'_Something's following me…' _Relics thought to himself, taking a break from comparing himself to some of the worst people in history and humanity. He pretended to shrug it off and he continued on his way, but he was tense and alert now. The human strained his hearing, timing the steps and calculating the distance away from him.

'_It's getting closer, just ten feet… six feet… NOW!'_

The human put all his weight on his left leg and kicked behind him with his right hitting nothing but air, but that didn't stop him. He quickly swung his leg around putting them both back down on the ground before he lashed out again with a wide sweeping kick, trying desperately to hit his invisible stalker so he could grasp his or her location and then close in. Still he didn't hit anything and he realized that whatever was coming after him was out of his reach so he put up his guard.

He stood completely still, listening for the smallest sound to give away his enemy's position. Seconds ticked by and turned to minutes which would have convinced anyone that they were just imagining things and overreacting to their imagination, but Relics was not convinced. It didn't matter to him that he looked like an idiot, bent at the knees and both fists guarding his face.

"Where are you?" Relics whispered as the tension kept eating away at him.

Another five minutes passed before Relics sighed, loosened up and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Just as he did he heard a click behind him and something press up against his head. Relics closed his eyes and let out another sigh, this one full of agitation.

"You were so close to hitting me; I think you nicked my hip in that last kick." A girlish voice giggled making Relics feel even worse as he realized who it was.

"Miranda. How are you? Is Sharp around?" He asked through his clenched teeth.

"I've been great actually, been sitting around bored out of my mind for the past month." Miranda said much less humorously than before.

"My month hasn't been that great either." He admitted despite the fact he knew she wouldn't care.

"Cool story. Anyways, I'm just here to tell you that the next phase begins tomorrow at five." Miranda said and removed the gun from his head.

"Tomorrow?!" Relics gasped and spun around but saw nothing but more cold and deserted streets. "Why tomorrow? I thought I had another month before-"

"Things change cutie. Hope you've had enough fun playing with your little animal friends, because after tomorrow there won't be many of them left." She said with a sickeningly childish giggle.

Relics' face darkened. "Trust me; I've had more than enough of this place to last me a lifetime. The sooner I'm back home, the better."

"Good to hear. See you tomorrow handsome." Miranda said and gave the human a small smack across the face that Relics had no chance of defending against.

The painful sting lingered while he thought about what she said, not him being handsome, but about how there weren't going to be many Cornerians after tomorrow. War was simply inevitable as billions of his own people were demanding retribution for the lives lost on Mar Sara. Someone had to take the fall, someone had to be blamed and pay for it. The excuse that seemed to have worked but wound up back firing was that it was a small sect of Cornerians that were rebelling against the majority, simply wasn't enough. The casualty list grew larger every day as even after a whole year, rotting corpses and skeletons were being dragged out of the ruins of a once independently thriving colony, and that was what angered the most people. So much death and destruction for no reason, and the perpetrators got away with it.

'_Would we really go so far to destroy completely destroy Corneria?'_ Relics wondered slowly becoming more and more afraid of what was to come tomorrow.


	38. Father

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~**_

_**Ladies and gentlemen, I have one thing to announce before you start reading. **_

_**If you want another chapter after this one than you will go to my profile and use the link to go check out the amazing picture of Lana and Melina drawn by the ever talented Frenzied-Insanity (on Deviantart) AKA Katalicious (on Fanfiction). I'm serious! Go check it out right now! Open up a second tab and go comment, fave, subscribe, whatever! **_

_**That's all really, I hope you enjoy this next chapter and… well you'll see.**_

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

Relics walked slowly to the front door of Chloe and Jason's house. He didn't want to make a noise because he was listening hard for any signs of talking or arguing. The human was expecting a less than warm welcome back as Chloe had probably told Jason what he'd said and the canine would most likely want to kick his teeth in. That was something he wasn't looking forward to but knew he deserved it.

'_Do you honestly think I believe you when you say you love me!?'_ He heard himself say again in his head.

It was as if his mind was stuck on auto-repeat; replaying those thirteen words to remind him he'd broken his mother's heart. All Chloe ever did was support him and love him. She listened to his problems no matter how insignificant they were to her, and she could always say something to make him feel better. Why would she now though? She certainly wouldn't after he practically spat in her face.

The human reached the door but waited and listened even harder but still heard nothing. Inhaling deeply, Relics twisted the handle and opened the door. He stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind him, feeling like he might be able to escape an ass whooping from Jason tonight.

"There he is!" Came the voice of the almost always loud canine making the human yelp and jump.

Before Relics could put his hands up to defend himself, he saw Jason wasn't rushing towards him or snarling like a rabid dog. Instead he was sitting in the living room with a plate full of food, something Chloe would lose her mind over if she saw. One of her golden rules was dinner was eaten in the dining room as a family and not on her "expensive as hell" furniture.

"Relics, are you hungry?" The panther asked from the kitchen.

'_Well… she's talking to me at least, but she doesn't sound too happy.'_ Relics thought as he walked through the living room.

"I could eat, mom." Relics said as he made it to the kitchen and saw Chloe starting to put away dinner, which happened to be lasagna.

The panther turned around and looked at him with quiet lavender eyes. Relics' gut cringed; she was definitely not the same as she was just four hours ago. Before he hurt her she felt so alive, full of love, and happiness which he could easily see through her eyes. He smiled at her, trying to get a smile back but she just jutted her head towards the plate on the kitchen counter.

"Thanks mom, it smells great." He said and walked over to pick up his meal. "Do you need help cleaning up, mom?" He asked before he laid a finger on his plate. Her answer was a shake of the head and she kept packing everything into Tupperware and put it in the fridge. "Are you sure?"

"I've got it." She said like she were talking to someone she had just met, not her son whom she loved.

"Okay…" Relics said and went to the dining room with food to go eat in silence. As he sat in the darkly lit room he watched Chloe finish up and he noticed there was a plate with food on it still. For a second he was excited that she'd come in and eat with him and he might get to apologize and beg for her forgiveness, but then she went into the living room.

He ate in absolute silence, staring at his food which was always delicious but he couldn't fully appreciate it since he felt like he was six feet under and thrown a shovel that landed on his head. If there was anything he hated, it was the silent treatment. He'd rather have her yell and scream at him until her voice was coarse, just so that he knew she cared.

Eventually he finished his food and put the dish in the sink and cleaned it off so Chloe wouldn't have to. Once he was done he walked into the living room and saw Jason had left his plate on the coffee table and had his feet up while Chloe rested on his chest and stroked his content belly. He could hear the canine giving an approving growl as for once he felt like the dominant one.

"I'm going to bed." Relics quietly announced.

Jason turned his head and waved with his hand not draped around his wife. "Night, bud. Hey, you want to go to the bank with me tomorrow? There's a cute receptionist that gives some good hea-" He said but started coughing into his hand. "Uh sorry, she says she'd really like to meet you."

'_Look at that, he's trying to get me laid.'_ Relics thought as he realized that Chloe had in fact not told Jason, probably because she knew he'd freak out if he knew what Relics had said.

"Uh… s-sure." Relics said not particularly interested in trying to replace Lana when he already had another girl he needed to get rid of.

"Great, be ready by eight." The German shepherd said and went back to watching television.

"Goodnight, mom." Relics said to which he got a small grunt from the panther.

As Relics slowly walked out of the room, Jason cocked an eyebrow. Normally Relics couldn't slip by Chloe and go to bed without a goodnight hug or kiss on the cheek, yet tonight Chloe wasn't even bothering to get up or voice a goodnight. At first he believed that Relics had done something to hurt her and the black fur on his back stood up, but then he remembered that there was no way Relics would do something like that. He loved Chloe and she loved him; it was cute in a way and it often made him jealous that Chloe had a kit before he did.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Jason asked as he slowly started petting the cat.

"Nothing's wrong, Jay-Jay." The wounded panther meowed and snuggled up closer to him.

Normally Jason was one of the crudest and most callous people you'd ever meet, but over the years of loving her, he'd learned to identify certain things. What tipped him off that he should try and pry a little deeper was when she curled up even closer to him and mewed so quietly. Normally she was strong and independent, but there were always time when she relied on him to be her rock and protect her. It seemed that now was one of those times.

"Chloe, what's wrong?" Jason asked as he kissed her right behind the ear making it twitch and touch his sniffing nose.

The feline inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh. She really didn't want to tell him because she knew how he got when he was angry. Relics hurt her but she still loved him and didn't want to see the two most wonderful men in her life fighting. Still, it was painful holding it inside and she didn't want to let it go for fear of hurting someone, which was why she didn't say much to Relics before. Yet, if there was anything Jason wouldn't do, it was break a promise to her.

"Promise to me. Promise you'll stay right here and not do anything rash." Chloe said with a very firm voice.

Jason swallowed hard as he knew what she was about to tell him would more than likely put him in a rage.

"I… promise I'll stay here with you and _try_ not to do anything rash." He said agreeing to her terms with some strain.

Chloe believed him fully, as he had given her his word, but that did not stop her from tightening her fingers' grip on him and letting her claws out a little so she could sink them into him if he got up. She inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent and his tense body against hers.

"Jay-Jay… Relics… our son… he said some very hurtful things and I'm still a little upset about it." Chloe admitted, trying to make it seem as insignificant as much as possible. Still, the large canine began to growl in his throat and his fur stood on end. His hard muscles flexed sparking a small jolt of fear in her, not for her safety, but for the unsuspecting human upstairs.

"What exactly did he say?" He barked and twitched like he was going to get up, but a quick reprimand from his mate stopped him.

"He said-" Chloe began but the memory of Relics' words were very sharp and painful, making her eyes water and her throat become sore like she'd been crying. "He said he never believed that I loved him, and that I'm going to get rid of him when the baby comes."

If it were anyone else holding him back, Jason would have thrown them off and stormed upstairs to yell and scream at Relics for saying such a thing. He wasn't going to hit him or anything, just remind him with very loud verbalization that Chloe cared more about him than he deserved. As angry as he was though, he wasn't blinded by anger like he normally would have been. Were it anyone but Relics, they'd have been bleeding profusely out the nose by now. It was like he wanted to punish him, but not hurt him at the same time, something that was entirely new to him.

"I'm sorry babe; do you want me to go… have a _talk_ with him?" He growled.

"Well no… I don't want to be angry with him; I just want him to love me again." Chloe sniffled and before the first tear fell, she was nestled gently in her husband's arms.

"Hey… don't say that. He still loves you." Jason assured as Chloe went on softly crying into his shirt and chest.

"But how do you k-know?" Chloe asked with a hiccup causing her to stutter.

"He came back, didn't he? And I'm not sure if you noticed but he sounded kind of upset when he was talking to you. That's half the reason why I wanted him to come with me to the bank tomorrow, that and I need someone to keep me from going feral if there's a long line again." Jason said with an amused growl making his feline mate growl threateningly.

"You better not go feral mister, or I'll have to punish you again." She said as she pushed herself up to stare directly into his eyes.

Jason swallowed hard and stopped growling. "Okay, Chloe." He said and licked her on the cheek to show her his submission.

The panther smiled sweetly as the warm feel of his tongue lingered on her face. It wasn't just the warmth though; it was the feeling of dominance. She never really cared for such a thing as it was more of a primal custom that dated back thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years in Cornerian culture. Still, having his submission was something she treasured as it was a deep sign of love and respect. If she told him to do something he would, no matter how stupid or demeaning. However, there were times _she_ would follow _his_ lead, like cases of their security or military business.

"I love you, Jay-Jay. There's no other man out there for me but you." Chloe purred as she gazed deeply into his big, brown, puppy dog eyes.

"And here I was thinking you settled." Jason said with a sly grin as his hand ran up and down Chloe's thigh.

"Me settle?" Chloe giggled before kissing him on his twitching black nose. "You're the most perfect guy in the galaxy, and there's no one alive that could ever take your place."

"Why's that?" Jason growled approvingly and started to get a little more aggressive by slowly crawling on top of the cat.

"Well, you're strong, handsome, so very brave, you have very nice hair, and you're the only guy to ever make me lose feeling below the waist." Chloe purred with a salacious smile; her paws sneaking down Jason's body to find the belt of his pants.

After hearing that, Jason started to lose control. He picked up his wife and started carrying her bridal style upstairs and to the bedroom. Chloe wasn't one to wait and had already started a fierce battle with her tongue against Jason's, not in the least bit worried that Jason might trip or stumble because he'd done this numerous times.

Before she knew it, the panting feline was flying through the air only to land softly on her bed. She laughed quietly and started blushing when she noticed Jason undressing and already had his shirt off.

"God you're hot." She said in an exhale and started tearing her own clothes off.

She had only just managed to get her shirt over her head when she felt herself being pinned to the bed, unable to move and unable to get the shirt over the rest of her head. Only her muzzle was out of the shirt leaving her eyes trapped under the lavender night blouse.

"I love you." She heard her man say, his hot breath splashing across her neck and causing her to shiver with ecstasy.

"I love you too, Jay-" Chloe began but felt his lips gently touch hers. She thought she was going to be getting another kiss but was a little disappointed to find out that her mate was teasing her, letting her relish in the suspense of waiting.

"I'll talk to him about it tomorrow; I'll get your kit back for you." He promised with a barely distinguishable sense of melancholy in his tone.

It didn't take her a second to know what was troubling him, and because of it she almost let it slip. Chloe wanted to tell him, she was dying to let her wonderful mate know that she was carrying his child. It was tearing her right down the middle holding on to the secret, but she knew he'd love it more if she waited, and besides, if she told him now it might put him out of the mood.

"Thank you, Jay-Jay. Now stop playing games and fuck your wife." She hissed before finally getting the kiss from him she craved.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Relics quickly pressed the off button on his alarm clock so it didn't start blasting the house with the god awful song of its people. He got off his bed and walked to the door, having already fully dressed about an hour ago. He hardly slept last night because he was up all night thinking about Chloe, his friends, and Lana. After today, he'd probably never see any of them ever again. The mission was entering the final stages and there was no backing out.

'_I can't even warn them, I can't do anything.'_ Relics thought as the thought of everyone he cared about on this planet being killed by his people. Just a few months ago he'd have wanted nothing more than for the entirety of the Cornerian race to burn and die for what they did, but now he cringed at the thought. He really cared about people here, even if they were probably just using him and had already betrayed him.

The human opened his door to find Jason getting ready to knock, and startled him.

"God damn it, Relics! Were you trying to do that?" Jason asked with a chuckle that sounded more like a humorous growl.

"N-No, Jason." Relics stuttered because he caught sight of Chloe in the corner of his eye heading downstairs. He tried to step around the tall canine but was stopped in his tracks.

"Come on bud, the bank's only open four hours today." The big canine grunted and started ushering him downstairs and right to the front door. Fortunately, Chloe was there waiting for them. "We're off, Chloe. We should be back in an hour."

The panther's eyes melted as she gazed into her husband's brown eyes. She smiled at him before kissing him on the lips, nearly losing control and pressing so deeply into the kiss that it would sweep them into a strong fit of passion. Before Jason could retaliate, she pulled away and whispered so quietly not even Relics could hear him.

"I love you, Jay-Jay."

Jason blushed a little under his fur wishing she wouldn't use her pet name for him in front of Relics.

"Love you too, babe." He grunted before walking out the door towards the car.

'_Alright, now's my chance!'_ Relics thought excitedly, having finally found Chloe alone.

"Mom I-" He began but couldn't get another syllable out before she stopped him.

"It's okay honey," She cooed before giving him a sign that she still loved and cared for him, a warm and loving embrace. "We'll talk about it when you get back, okay?"

'_Talk when I get back? But I want to talk about it now! The mission is in a few hours, after that I'll never… see you again.'_ Relics thought as the sudden realization he was leaving and the universe was about to be a worse place to live in.

The human's body clenched and he hugged Chloe back as hard as he could, savoring the last few moments he would have with her. He wished he had more time, time enough to say goodbye to all his friends, break up with Melina and apologize for it, and maybe even reconcile with the first woman he ever loved. He hadn't seen her in school for almost two weeks, and not even Fara knew where she was now.

"_For all I know she's on Zoness by now, it's for the best anyway. After what she did, there's no way anyone would want to go within ten feet of her except maybe that asshole Brice." _Fara told him three days ago when Relics asked about her.

'_She might have treated me like garbage in the end, but I love her and I love Chloe. Hell, I even love Jason.'_ Relics thought but was dragged out of his inner thoughts by something patting on his back.

"Sweetie, sweetie!" Chloe mewed as Relics' arms threatened to snap her in half. "Please let go of mom before you break her!"

"S-Sorry mom!" Relics gulped and quickly let her go.

The panther smiled. "It's okay; now go on, before Jason starts honking- too late."

"Come on, let's go! I need to cash my paycheck!" Jason shouted over loud blaring of the car's horn which he was slamming on with his fist.

Relics bit his lip and gave his mom the best smile he could muster. "I love you mom… goodbye."

The panther blinked, he said it in such a strange way and almost choked up when he said goodbye, and there was the way he said it, like it was his final goodbye.

"I'll see you soon, baby." Chloe assured.

Relics swallowed the lump in his throat and started walking towards the car. Only when he opened up the door to the passenger seat did Jason lay off the horn. He growled at Relics for taking his time before putting it in gear and started pulling out of the driveway. As they did, Relics maintained a strange and longing eye contact with Chloe that sort of upset her. She wondered why he was looking at him like that, almost like how dog watches mournfully as its family drives away.

'_I love you mom. Please be safe… and forgive me for what I'm about to do.'_

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The orange vulpine looked out his window into the grey city. All day the clouds had been looming over the city, threatening to burst into a rainstorm but seemed to be waiting for whatever reason. It had been two weeks since his father had left and they had not received any messages from him, Pigma, or even Peppy. Whenever James went on missions, there were times where he didn't contact his family for several days but never longer than a week or so. Usually his job was done after two or so weeks, most of that time being travel from system to system.

Either way it worried Fox. The humans had withdrawn from the shaky peace talks and Corneria was poised to strike Venom any day now. He and his mother had already established a plan to get off Corneria and hide out on Papetoon at the first sign of danger. His mother and sister Christa were his main priority; above all else he had to get them to safety.

A sudden knocking alerted the vulpine whose ears pricked up. Fox sighed and got off his bed to go answer the door since his mom and sister were no doubt too busy to even notice. Every day for the past two weeks they spent almost every hour of the day together, playing, cooking, shopping, it reminded Fox of when he was that age that Vixy used to do that with him. She tried to hide it, but she was worried sick for her husband and absolutely hated it when he went on missions.

Fox was too old for it now, but Vixy used to wake Fox in the middle of the night to bring him to bed with her. She needed someone there with her, she needed to feel like she wasn't alone or abandoned.

The fox walked down the stairs and just reached the bottom when the knock repeated. Fox looked up and saw that his mom had in fact heard the knocking and was walking towards the door.

"I'll get it, Mom." Fox said stopping the vixen.

"Okay, lunch will be ready in an hour." Vixy said just as Fox opened the door.

"Hello-" Fox managed to say before the sight before him stopped him dead.

A man, tall, well groomed, and in a pressed military uniform was standing there with a solemn look on his face. Both Fox and Vixy's hearts froze mid beat.

"Is this the McCloud residence?" He asked, his voice slightly quavering at the end.

Vixy's lip trembled and she answered for Fox who was still too shocked to say anything. "Yes."

The soldier swallowed hard. "Mrs. McCloud… I… I'm sorry to tell you this…."

~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The dark grey clouds over Corneria slowly began to burst. All around the city it started to rain and Relics could see it off in the distance. It hadn't started raining yet where he was but by the way the winds were moving he could tell it was only a matter of time. Still, he wouldn't have to worry since they'd be in and out of the bank before that happened.

A large building loomed over the human and the canine. Before them one of the oldest and largest banks on Corneria lay before them. It was quite remarkable, everything was made of marble and the supportive pillars were as wide a car and held the ceiling up nearly fifty feet in the air. At the very front of the building the name of the bank was written on what appeared to be a solid gold plaque.

"Do you have banks like this back home?" Jason asked and started walking towards the entrance.

Relics followed him closely as he surveyed the rest of the bank. There were several Cornerians dressed in suits, skirts, and many were carrying briefcases. The human noticed one Cornerian that didn't fit in even with the briefcase in his hand. He was dressed in a long sleeved black shirt, dark grey pants, and a small green eyepiece that stuck out an inch or so in front of his left eye.

The Rottweiler noticed the human staring at him, and glared right back. Relics quickly averted his eyes not wanting to offend the canine.

"Uh no… not really. At least not on Mar Sara." Relics admitted as they approached the large Plexiglas doors.

Jason nodded and held the door open for Relics. He stepped inside and noticed a very strange smell hit his nose; the smell of credit chits. Before Relics could take in the regal feeling of the interior of the bank, Jason started leading him through the security checkpoint. They emptied out their pockets into little bins that would go through an X-ray before stepping through a metal detector.

Relics made it halfway through before the warning sirens and lights started going off. Almost instantly three armed security guards were on his case, their hands within an inch of their guns.

"Sir would you please step over here, sir?" A very large and obese swine grunted grabbing Relics very tightly with his sausage like fingers.

Jason turned around to see what was going on but was blocked by the other two guards.

"Hold still please." The security guard said and held up a rectangle shaped device and started running it up and down his body. When he came to his neck where the suppressor was, the swine stopped. "Sir please remove your collar."

The human stiffened as the thought of removing his collar played out in his mind. If he even tried to take it off or tamper with the alien lock, the small but very sharp blades placed above his jugulars would cut through his skin and jugulars like a hot knife through butter. He could lucidly imagine his neck squirting blood out all over the swine's face.

'_Fuck that.'_ Relics thought as he shook his head.

"I can't do that." Relics told the guard plainly and calmly, but to the guard it was like he just shouted he was going to kill everyone and then rob the bank.

"Sir, remove your collar _now_." The guard said reaching for his Taser only to be stopped halfway by a strong arm.

"Stand down, rent-a-cop." A growling German Shepard said with his fur bristling and standing on end.

For a second shear terror ran down the swine's double chin all the way down to his little piggy toes. The look that Jason was giving him was one of absolute death and he was afraid for his life.

"S-Sir-" The security guard began but Jason flashed his military ID.

"He's with me. Got a problem with that?" Jason snapped and released his death grip on his fat arm. Before he could respond, Jason grabbed Relics and led them away. "Here's your stuff."

'_That could have been me last night.'_ Relics thought as he took his music player and credit chit.

"Thanks, Jason." Relics murmured timidly, that is until Jason's livid mood did a one eighty as he led them through a line of desks with receptionists behind them.

"She's the one I was telling you about last night." Jason murmured as they got closer and closer to the very busy otter behind a desk at the far end.

Even Relics had to admit she was pretty cute. The otter had such a shiny coat of fur, her hair was long and braided, her body wasn't the best he'd seen but her good looks certainly were up there, and her lips were nice and full, almost pouty.

'_Guess that's one of the reasons why Jason says she gives good hea-'_

She didn't notice them until they were just a few feet away, and when she looked up she smiled.

"Good morning, Jason! …Who's your friend? He's cute." She said giving the human an even brighter smile.

'_Well… she is kind of pretty. It would have be nice getting to know her.'_ Relics thought as Jason introduced him.

"Morning, Shana." Jason said with his trademark grin. "This young man here is my good friend, Relics. He's single if that's what you were going to ask." He added as Shana opened her muzzle.

"I wasn't going to ask that." The dark brown and grey otter giggled while her brown eyes darted around rather not so innocent like. The beaming otter offered Relics her paw which he took and gave a small kiss, making her blush even more. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Relics."

"Likewise." Relics said as he pulled back from her and her sweet and very familiar scent. "You smell lovely, is that… Zoness Lily Flower?"

"Yes actually." Shana said, visibly impressed that he recognized her perfume. "It was a gift from… someone I know."

'_You smell just like her, and your name sounds just like her sweet name…'_ Relics thought as visions of his minx flashed before his eyes.

"So Shana, how's work going?" Jason asked with a sly smirk.

The otter rolled her eyes. "If I have to work here another year, I'll burn the place to the ground."

"That bad huh?" Jason laughed suddenly taking the focus of attention away from Relics.

"So bad." She sighed and flashed Jason a smile. "How about you, you still seeing Chloe?"

Relics rolled his eyes and leaned up against the desk as Jason and Shana started catching up. This happened more often than Relics cared for. It seemed that everywhere they went Jason knew some woman or floosy that he had slept with before. Strangely though, none of them resented him, in fact they seemed overtly happy to see him. Jason didn't look too deeply into it and sort of enjoyed the attention, but Relics could tell that the women still wanted him.

The human let out a silent sigh as he looked over the bank. There were some stairs across from them and the entrance was slowly leaking in customers and Relics noticed that the same Rottweiler from before came into the bank. A loud alarm went off and he was pulled aside like Relics was before. Losing interest, Relics turned back to the conversation.

"You just left me one day! You said we were going to be together forever!" Shana sobbed as Jason consoled her.

"I'm sorry, babe… but I went on deployment and when I got back you were fuckin' someone else!" Jason said in a soothing voice. "If things were different, who knows where we'd be."

"I just miss you so much sometimes! I haven't found a guy half as good as you. I was so stupid; I should never have betrayed you." She sniffled.

Relics and Jason's eyes connected, and the canine lifted his eyebrows in a "watch this" fashion.

"Well… maybe it's not guys you should be looking for?"

Shana stopped sniffling for a moment and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Um… well… have you tried playing for the other team before?" Jason asked and before she could say yes or not, he went on. "Hey, why don't you come over tonight? Chloe's making a real nice dinner and I'm sure she'd like to eat you- I mean meet you."

'_Oh my god, really? Jason gets a threesome from my supposed hookup?'_

"I'd…" Shana sniffed. "I'd like that."

Jason smiled and gave the otter a pet on the head. "Great, now if you could do me a favor, make sure the kid doesn't do anything stupid while I go cash my check."

"Sure Jaycee; I'll take care of your friend." The otter said with a smile that Relics wasn't too sure to make of.

"Excellent." The canine said heading towards the stairs on the other side of the room. "Be right back, Relics."

'_Oh God no.'_ Relics thought as the otter put a placard on her desk that read closed, all the while casting him a gaze he'd only seen before on a certain robin.

"Come with me, handsome." She said and grabbed him by the wrist with both hands and started pulling him towards the break room.

'_Think man, I can't handle another stint with a Cornerian!'_ Relics thought as he somewhat resisted the otter's firm grip.

"H-Hey Shana, I-" Relics began but shivered when he saw the otter lick her lips.

The human looked away from the plotting otter just as the metal detectors at the front door went off again.

"Sir, please step this-" The same large swine from before said before a loud bang echoed across the room and sent pieces of bone, brain, and flesh flying into the air until it came down and coated the floor around the lifeless, and headless body of the swine.

The entire bank froze for a split second as the scene sank in. Behind the gunman that blew off the security guard's head stepped in twelve more armed men, each one of them had their faces masked and a gun in hand. The screaming started the same time the shooting did. Relics' tried to run but the otter was frozen in terror trying to scream loud enough to wake the dead pig. He tried desperately to get her to move but she was not moving.

The shooters acted quickly, gunning down innocent victims while a small team ran towards the tellers where the money was. A teller tried to lockdown the small fortified room, but was too slow and suffered the same fate as the those who had already fallen.

"LET GO! LET GO YOU STUPID BITCH, YOU'RE GOING TO GET US BOTH-"Relics was screaming at Shana, trying his damnedest to pull away or at least get her to follow him, that is until the same Rottweiler from before took aim at him and fired.

The human jerked as soon as he fired and the red bolt whizzed past Relics' face. Before the canine could take another shot with his dedicated rifle, his team that was finishing off the few people who weren't already dead, wounded, or hiding, took aim at the human and the otter.

Suddenly Relics felt Shana's hand release his wrist and her screaming stop. He didn't spare a second to see what happened to her so he didn't know that she was falling to the ground clutching her open stomach. He ran back towards the receptionists' desks, hoping to at least make it that far without getting shot.

He hadn't made it two steps before more lasers were flying towards him, barely missing their mark. For the most part, the bank robbers had brought along rather inaccurate weapons at long range, mainly shotguns and sub-machineguns so Relics was able to get halfway back to the desks without a scratch.

The Rottweiler growled and lined up another shot, his scope's reticule tracking the human's head precisely. Just as his finger started squeezing the trigger and Relics was within ten feet of the cover of the desk, retaliation was launched.

A report louder than any of the bank robbers' guns rang out before one of the fourteen went down because of an electrified and jagged bolt ran through his eyes and out the back of his head at fifteen hundred feet a second. Before the attackers could spot where the shot came from, a canine with a large handgun in his paws was lighting them up, gunning down two more of them before they could take cover behind the supportive columns just a few feet in front of the security checkpoint.

Relics dove behind the desk, panting heavily like he'd just run through Hell to get away. He quickly checked himself to see if he had any wounds and was surprised that he somehow made it out of that untouched. Not wanting to be in the same spot when the bank robbers came looking for him, Relics began to belly crawl through the line of desks just as something grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar. He let out a scream and tried to pry the strong hand off but before he could he was hauled up to his feet and almost dragged away from the safety of the desks towards a door behind them.

The gunfire was louder than ever and Relics had to cover his ears as the person dragging him had a gun that was making his ears ring louder and louder with every shot it fired. Hardly able to keep his eyes open due to stress and fear, Relics could barely see the door he was being led to and since he wasn't shot or dead yet, he felt that if he wanted to stay that way he'd open the door.

The moment they reached it, Relics threw his hands out and pried the door open allowing for him and his guardian to get in and out of the enemy's line of fire. Relics felt his body get thrown into the room and he landed hard, not wanting to move as the pain set in.

"GET UP, RELICS!"

His silver eyes blinked for a moment before he realized who it was that just saved him. The human quickly jumped up to his feet and got away from the doorway and found that it was indeed Jason that saved him.

"Jason!" Relics exclaimed but the canine ignored him and fired off several more shots before ducking back.

The human became entranced by the canine, the sheer look of determination on his face, the smoking barrel of the gun in his hand, and the blood on his jacket.

"Jason!" Relics exclaimed again, this time out of concern for the bleeding German Shepard.

"I'm alright, don't worry about me." He growled loud enough so that Relics could hear him over the loud gunfire that seemed to be getting closer and closer. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

"N-No." Relics replied.

The canine nodded as he could tell just from scent alone that he was the only one bleeding in the room. Jason barked loud enough to scare even Relics before laying down a suppressive fire. The second his clip was empty he took hold of Relics' shoulder and lead him down the long hallway with doors on both sides. They tried to open the first two doors but the offices were locked. Jason quickly slammed a new clip into his gun and they ran down the long hallway to the door at the end. Just as they reached it their attackers caught up with them.

Jason's sharp canine ears heard the sound of a shotgun being pumped and he pushed Relics down to the floor. A loud bang followed by another bang scared the human out of his mind, he felt so helpless and vulnerable as everything was going to shit and all he could do was rely on Jason to keep him protected. But then a sound that frightened Relics even more than gunshots came to his ears, the sound of Jason in pain.

"God damn it, fuck!" He snarled through his teeth before picking Relics back up and leading him through the door, this time leading them to a room with a large vault on one side and a stairwell to another.

"GO! HURRY UP!" Jason shouted and shoved Relics towards the stairwell.

The human stumbled a little bit but managed to stay vertical. He ran towards the stairwell and tried to open the door but found it locked. Panic overtook his mind and he did the only thing that seemed to make sense, he kicked the door in.

"It's open!" He reported happily, looking back at the limping dog.

'_Oh my God.'_ Relics thought as he saw that the small trickle of blood that used to be on Jason's jacket, had since doubled and his now even his left leg was bleeding.

"Jas-"

"Shut up, just keep moving!" He snapped as he kept his gun pointed towards the entryway, covering them as they escaped.

There was nothing he could do to help that wouldn't slow them down so Relics listened to Jason and started heading upstairs since downstairs only led to a barred off room where he could easily see a gold colored glow come from.

'_Where are the guards when you need them? Don't tell me they've all run off and hid!'_ Relics thought as he ran up the stairs but paused every now and then to make sure Jason was keeping up.

The duo ran up five flights of stairs before coming to the second level which was up rather insanely high for Relics' taste, but it was more preferable over the crazed gun toting madmen and women downstairs they were running from.

"Backup… I need backup at the Twelfth National Bank of Corneria… we're under attack and they're closing in on our position." Jason panted on his cellphone before leaning over the railing of the stairs and firing off a few quick shots at his pursuers, stopping them in their tracks but missing them all.

Relics moved to the door at the top of the stairs, keeping Jason in the peripherals of his vision, so he wasn't at all prepared for the door bursting wide open and a large man pointing a gun in his face. The human tensed up, so sure that this was the end; that is until the man let out a scream and dropped his gun thanks to Jason shooting him in the gut. Normally the charge in the canine's gun would have been enough to fry the man alive but the battery was low and all it managed to do was inflict enough pain to make him drop his gun and give Relics an opening.

Without hesitation, Relics curled his right hand into a fist and jabbed right at the feline shaped head with all his might. His attack was completely off target because his mind was a swirl of chaos and had no center that would have allowed him to nail the possible feline right in the muzzle like he wanted. Instead his fist hit a little lower than anticipated, right in the vulnerable and soft cartilage, making a gross sounding crunch and the feline start coughing and spluttering. His pain only lasted for so long before another bolt passed through his head and stopped in the wall behind him.

Jason quickly jumped up the last few steps, holding the wound just below his right pec.

"Good job, bud. Come on, they're right behind us." He said not wasting any time and kept them both moving.

It became clear to Relics just a few seconds in of running down yet another hallway, that Jason's leg injury was slowing him down. Yet not even a second passed did he think of leaving him behind. Instead, Relics ducked under the canine's left arm and started helping him along.

"Relics you sh-" Jason began but was cut off.

"Don't even say it." Relics snapped and redoubled his efforts to get to the end of the hallway.

'_Everything is so strange! It's nothing like the fucking movies!'_ Relics thought because his knowledge of banks and their inner workings was useless. _'It's like this bank was made by aliens… oh yeah.'_

Halfway down the hallway they found a door that led back to where they started, but Jason told him to keep going since they most likely had more people waiting downstairs for them. At the end of the hallway they came to another door, this one made of solid steel, and quickly went inside. The door had only just closed behind them when a torrent of gunfire exploded behind them. Jason removed himself of Relics' help and blasted the door panel, hopefully buying themselves some more time.

"Where are we now?" Relics panted looking around.

"Looks like the security guards' locker debriefing room and armory." Jason said noticing the desks, chairs, podium and the large heavy door with a sign saying armory above it.

"Armory? Great! Now I can get a gun and-" Relics began but Jason stopped him before he could go any further.

"All those guns are bound to be DNA locked. The only thing that they'd do for you is electrocute you just for picking it up." The canine grunted while looking around for another exit or way of fortifying their position.

'_Oh yeah.'_ Relics thought remembering the first time he tried to use a DNA locked weapon.

The bank robbers, if that's what they even were, could be heard trying to work their way through the door. It was strange, they seemed so adamant in killing everyone, especially him and Jason. From what Relics knew of bank robberies, it was get in, get the money, and get out as fast as possible, no time to waste trying to kill everyone.

"Damn it!" Jason cursed before venting his anger out on a small desk. "There's no way out, no way to defend ourselves, and back up won't be here for another ten god damn minutes!"

Relics winced as Jason smashed another desk like a feral beast. It made him nervous seeing Jason lose it like he was, normally he was calm, cool, collected, but also a little rough around the edges.

"We're still gonna make it out of this, right?" Relics asked sporting a small grin to which Jason just stared at. That look he was giving him told Relics all he needed to know; even Jason had no hope of getting out of this alive.

"Help me brace the door." Jason grunted and started moving desks, chairs, and anything that wasn't bolted down in front of the heavy metal door.

The duo worked in silence as the morbid thought started to sink in. This was their last stand, they were trapped and now they were only delaying the inevitable.

'_Would they come if I could call them? Would they come even if they knew?'_ Relics wondered thinking of his human reinforcements as he and Jason shoved a heavy desk in front of the pile.

"They're probably done trying to hack the door seeing as how I fried the circuits. Their next bet is to blow it up somehow." Jason thought out loud as they moved away from the barricade and started making their own separate fortification.

"What is with these bank robbers? Why are they-"

"They're not bank robbers, Relics! They're obviously here to kill you!" Jason snapped rather loudly making Relics flinch and shiver away. Seeing he'd been a little rough on him, Jason sighed. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Relics mumbled as he took cover behind their fortification. "I honestly didn't think it would end like this, you know?"

"Yeah." Jason sighed again as he sat next to Relics. "I always thought I'd die on top of your mother thanks to a heart attack. Sorry about the mental image."

"S'alright."

Time seemed to creep by as they waited for their enemies' next move. Jason was at the ready, testing the air for strange scents, swiveling his ears around, and had his gun fixed on the door while keeping Relics low and out of sight. Everything seemed calm but Relics' heart was pounding frantically. He had no idea what was about to happen, he only prayed that if he had to die then he'd die quickly. The last thing he wanted was to be taken hostage and tortured.

'_It's not like I wouldn't deserve it though…'_ Relics sighed as he thought of all the harm and things he had volunteered willingly to do to the Cornerians.

"Jason…" Relics began getting only a flick of the canine's ear as acknowledgement. "There's something I need to tell you about-"

A loud bang flattened anything not braced or bolted down, including Relics. His ears began to ring and all other sounds were muffled. His hands covered his ears as he rolled around on the floor in pain. His mind was scattered and confused so seeing Jason still up and shooting as lasers whizzed by him didn't register in his head. It felt like several minutes had gone by but it was only a few seconds.

Jason suddenly looked at him and started talking but all Relics could hear was that damned ringing. Relics didn't even blink before once again Jason was dragging him up and away.

'_My head, my fucking head!'_ Relics thought as he struggled to stay up and moving.

It wasn't by any means easy for Jason, his head and ears were ringing too, but he also had a wounded leg and a laser wound in his torso. Jason pulled Relics out of the room back into the main hall of the bank. Relics could feel his body moving but had no dictation of the movements.

"Come on buddy, we're almost there." Jason panted.

They were up high on the second story railing where all the senior executives' offices were. The German Shepard quickly found the stairs downwards and rushed towards them with Relics barely hanging on his left shoulder. They reached the stairs after walking over the two bodies of the people who blew a hole in the wall trying to flank them.

"Relics, fucking help me!" Jason snapped while trying not to fall down the spiraling stairwell.

Just as Relics started to regain a foothold on being conscious, before a long burst of machinegun fire exploded all around them causing Jason to cry out in pain, let go of Relics, and send them both tumbling down the stairs like a painful slide. By the time Relics reached the bottom, Jason was on his back and his gun pointed at the hole upstairs where another bank robber was. The human covered his ears while Jason shot back at the reloading animal up top, landing several shots causing him to fall over the railing and down to the ground floor dead.

Relics groaned while rolling onto his side. His whole body felt like it had gotten into a fight with Wolf again, only this time he lost. Still, he had enough sense to get up and help the quietly growling canine up to his feet.

"Come on Jason, we're almost out." Relics grunted as he pulled up the larger and heavier canine.

"God damn, mother fucking, shit-lords!" Jason snarled through his tightly clenched teeth.

"Are you alright?" Relics asked as they hobbled past the desks and the corpses, trying not to step on the deceased.

"Little bastard got me… right in the shoulder" Jason replied, trying to catch his breath and help Relics carry his own weakened body.

'_He's bleeding so much! I got to get him out of here!'_ Relics thought as he realized Jason was losing a lot of blood that was getting all over him since he was the one carrying their weight.

The closer they got to the door, the more bodies there was. Visions of what happened on Mar Sara began to return to haunt Relics, but there was no time to be mortified. He had to get Jason out of the bank and away from these ruthless killers. Sights and sounds of the carnage kept jumping out at him, but he pushed through them, determined to get Jason out alive. He honestly didn't care about himself anywhere near as much as Jason cared about him, especially since if he died he wouldn't have to betray his new home, friends, and family.

'_We're almost there! We're so close!'_ The human thought excitedly as the exit got closer and closer.

They had made it, just another fifteen feet and they'd be out of the hornets' nest. Relics revamped his efforts and a soft breeze of air from the open door splashed across his face. They made it.

Bang.

The sound of the rifle slowed all space and time. Jason let out a quiet grunt of pain and Relics could literally see a laser fly out of him causing blood to splatter on the floor. Relics watched in slow-motion, horrified by what he was witnessing. The shock made Jason buckle at the knees and he collapsed, almost bringing Relics down with him. Even though he had seen the laser burn through Jason, Relics didn't stop; he kept hold of Jason and pulled him behind the metal detectors, giving them relative cover from the murderers up on the upper railing trying to hit them with their inaccurate weapons.

They were just ten feet from the entrance, but Relics wasn't going to risk leaving without Jason or that damn sniper just waiting for them to make a wrong move. Instead, the human helped the canine sit against the barrier.

"J-Jason… are you-" Relics began but his heart froze when he saw the large hole in Jason's jacket. "No! Jason!" Relics gasped and tried to put pressure on the wound, but the canine stopped him.

"Don't." The canine said with a weakened voice, blood trickling from his muzzle. "Relics… you have to get… out." He whispered through bloody coughing.

"I'm not getting out alone, not without you!" Relics whispered back, tears pouring out of his eyes while still pressing against the wound. A sick feeling of revulsion slowly overtaking him as the warm blood coated his hands as it spurted out of the canine's body.

The German Shepard only smiled at the human.

"My life doesn't matter, you're too important." Jason explained as his right hand reached for the gold ring on his left index finger. "Besides, I'm already one foot in the hole."

"You don't say that!" Relics nearly shouted. "You're going to make it! You're going to live! You have to… please!"

Jason shook his head. "I can't do that bud. I'm sorry."

With every second Jason drifted further and further away. There was nothing Relics could do to help the canine, he was losing too much blood and he couldn't fight off the people getting closer and closer. To make it all worse, Jason seemed to be accepting his death; he already knew there was no hope unlike the human who was refusing and rejecting the very idea of Jason possibly being harmed.

"Jas…" Relics choked out but he hesitated. That name wasn't fitting of this man, this man who had done so much for him and went beyond the expectations of the human. Jason opened up his doors and took him under his wing without even being asked. For months he was a good friend and bodyguard, but now, at the very edge of end, Relics saw Jason for what he really was.

"Dad." Relics whispered causing the canine to blink. "You can't do this, Dad! Please. You can't die! Not again."

Jason managed to catch Relics' reddening eyes just as a tear fell from his own. It was strange hearing another person call him that; being called dad. He'd always thought it wouldn't really affect him, but hearing the kid say it was a whole other feeling. He felt proud and exultant hearing the kid, he wished was his son, call him that. Chloe had told him before that Relics thought of him as a father but he never believed her; Jason always thought that they were just friends.

Funny; as his world was getting darker and colder with every heartbeat, Relics had once again given him happiness.

"Take care of your mother son." He said reaching behind Relics' neck. "Don't let her re-marry another douchebag… like me."

For Relics it felt like Jason wasn't the only one who was dying, the pain and heartache of watching another loved one die was in fact killing him. It hurt so much that he'd do anything to make it all stop. He had to beg, he had grovel, he had to plead for Jason to keep living and to not give up.

"Dad, don't die. You can't die because if you do then who's going to raise my little brother?" Relics asked, trying to keep Jason from closing his eyes.

"What?" Jason whispered, his eyes barely open more than a little slit.

"Yeah! Mom's preggers! You got her pregnant! She was going to tell you on your birthday as a surprise." Relics said, hope growing inside because Jason seemed to be coming out of it. "You're not going to let Mom screw both of us up, are you?"

A small chuckle turned into a bloody cough and it sapped what little strength Jason had left.

"Nah… she's got you to help her now. 'Sides, I'd have been a shitty dad." Jason said, his eyes closing and breathing slowing.

"No. Dad, no! You're an awesome father!" Relics said trying to get Jason to open his eyes again. "Don't leave us… don't leave me."

The dog's muzzle twitched as he tried to smile. "I'm sorry… you're the man of the house now." Jason said and used what little strength he had to raise his hand. "This… my wedding ring… it will unlock your Suppressor. I know you, and I'm begging you… don't fight these people. Get away. Take care of… Chloe."

And that was it. His brown eyes had closed and his shallow breathing stopped entirely. Relics tried to get to him, tried to get him to open his eyes. None of it worked, Jason wasn't getting up. The human started weeping uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face.

"Dad… dad!" The human cried, embracing the canine tightly. Blood smeared onto Relics' body but the human didn't care, he just wanted his father back.

But he could not mourn for long; his attackers were getting closer, ready to finish him off. He had to act now or die alongside Jason.

'_I'm sorry dad… I know you want me to run away but… I can't let them get away with this. You shouldn't have died because of them! They'll pay. THEY'LL ALL PAY!'_ Relics thought and used the golden wedding band to unlock his Suppressor.

It was like breathing for the first time. Almost instantly his body's true strength and power returned, flooding him with more energy than he could remember ever having. It was such a rush, taking this hit of supremacy over everyone. Even his eyes seemed to be working well beyond their old limits, as if the long lapse of being so weak and limited had allowed them to grow stronger all along.

Relics let the suppressor drop from his hand before putting on Jason's ring. He promised himself that he'd give it to Chloe and beg for her forgiveness later, but first he had to take care of Jason's killers. The human stood up, making sure to compensate for his new powers. It must have surprised the Rottweiler because he did not fire, not even his friends did as the human casually walked towards them, stopping just fifty feet away.

A long and very awkward silence filled the room. No one dared move as they stared at the glaring human who seemed unfazed by the idea of dying. Only revenge mattered now, he'd kill every one of them with his own hands if he had to.

"Hello." Relics nearly whispered causing some of the seven on the ground floor to flinch. "My name Fox "Relics" McCloud. You killed my father, prepare to die."


	39. Winter is Coming

"Mel? Mel! MEEEELLLLL!"

"WHAT!?"

"Tag! You're it!"

A small tan minx poked a red and black robin on the beak before tearing off out the back door. Mel let out a frustrated groan and ran after the giggling minx. Still, once she started running after the minx and her fluttering tail, Mel couldn't help but giggle with delight in the chase. They ran up and down the backyard of Lana's house, jumping on the large toys and jungle gym equipment in an adorable game of chase. Eventually though, Lana tripped up and fell down onto the soft grass whereupon Melina pounced on her.

"Get off me, silly!" Lana laughed as she tried to get up but the red and black robin kept her pinned down.

"No. You're not getting away ever again!" Mel squawked, burying her face into the minx's back when suddenly she felt herself being lifted up.

Lana was growling almost at the top of her lungs while pushing her tiny body up with Melina still holding onto her back. Mel let out a little chirp and found her and Lana off the ground. The little robin let go and fell off the minx, only to find herself pinned down and being playfully bitten.

"AH! ST-STOP!" Melina cried out, giggling despite her outcry for Lana to get off. "LANA!"

"You taste good! NOM!" Lana purred before biting down on Melina's neck.

Melina stopped moving altogether, letting Lana's sharp predator teeth sink down into her neck. It didn't hurt; in fact, it felt kind of good in a very strange way she had no way of explaining. She didn't know it because she was too young, but in a primal sense, Lana was marking her without even knowing it. It wasn't a territorial mark like most and neither was it an impure mark; it was a mark that depicted their friendship and love of each other.

"Melf." Lana said through her teeth and into Melina's neck.

"Y-Yes, Lana?" Melina asked, still lying on the ground motionless.

"Are you okay, Mel?" Lana asked when she let go of Melina's neck.

"I'm okay, Lana." Melina whispered.

The robin looked up into Lana's red, concerned eyes. The minx tilted her head to the side and gave Mel a toothy smile before lying down on the robin and embracing her lovingly.

"I love you, Mel." Lana sighed causing Melina to stiffen before hugging Lana back.

"I love you too, Lana."

"Are we gonna be friends forever?" Lana purred.

"I hope so… do you?" Melina asked the minx who was not staring back into the robin's deep brown eyes.

"I know so…."

The minx suddenly jerked awake, her neck muscles reeling from whiplash while the near three dozen muscles in her feline ears moved quickly to swivel her ear around for sounds. The hybrid's little black nose twitched trying to find a scent.

"Lana? Baby, are you okay?"

Lana blinked and found her mother sitting beside her, prompting her to relax and calm down. For some reason, the minx felt like something was wrong, like something was hunting her but all she was doing was sitting here in her family's private interplanetary ship waiting. The sound of her mother's voice soothed the minx however, and prompted her to calm down.

Her tired red eyes blinked and flashed around the shuttle. Her father was still up in the cockpit, probably still trying to get clearance to orbit. Her mother on the other hand was still sitting right next to her, but so were two empty bottles of wine that her mother had guzzled down like a lush.

"I'm fine, Mother." Lana said slowly calming down. "Have we taken off yet?"

"No sweetheart, still trying to get clearance from the tower." Lana's father said over the shuttle's intercom.

"Perhaps you should use your big boy voice? Or are you still having problems getting it up?" Angie asked before taking a sip of her wine.

"Angie! What the… Lana, how many glasses has she had?" Xavier asked to which Lana replied.

"Two bottles worth."

"Don't tell him that!" Angie hissed at her daughter. "Your father hates when I drink."

'_Mostly because you turn into a royal bitch when you do.'_ Lana thought distastefully.

"Don't let her have anymore, you know how she gets."

"Oh hush or you're not getting into the mile high club!" Angie said making her daughter's ears pin to the back of her head and eyes force shut.

"Gross, Mom." Lana grunted.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Angie purred and started petting Lana's shoulder. "I'm so glad you decided you want to come back to Zoness."

"Yeah." Lana said not wanting to talk about it since she was more escaping then just plain leaving.

"Just think about it, you'll be sipping margaritas on the beach, the ocean rolling for perfect surf, and all the guys with dicks as big as your forearm." Angie purred making Lana's stomach turn in disgust. "How do you think I met your father? I could practically see it through his-"

"MOM!" Lana shouted getting her mother to stop talking about her father's genitals.

"Sorry darling, it's the wine talking." Angie snickered. "But seriouslythough, while we're there we'll find you the perfect guy. A nice fox with baby blue eyes and a set of washboard abs. Or maybe a panther with arms as thick as tree trunks because he works out. One way or another we'll make the cutest couple in the Lylat. A big step up from the human."

Lana's tail bushed up and her whole body tensed. If it were anyone but her mother, Lana would have started screaming. Instead, the gentle hybrid tried to swallow her anger and simply asked.

"What do you mean by that, _Mother_?" Lana asked as sweetly as she could so not to betray her growing anger.

"Nothing personal, Lana, but I'm glad you're finally over this "human phase." All you ever talked about was the human this, the human that. Don't get me wrong, it was great for business so it kind of worked out what with all the free publicity. I mean, you couldn't buy all the publicity our company got when everyone thought that you were dating the human!" Angie said while Lana remained absolutely still.

She hated when her mother got like this, she was always so tactless when she was drinking and now she was striking several nerves of an open wound. Her so called "human phase" was more than a phase; it was a genuine feeling of love that was cut short because of her "friend" and that asshole Brice. She'd do anything to stay on Corneria and be with the man she loved.

"Mother, please." Lana said, trying not to lose her temper on the woman who gave birth to her and raised her.

"I'm so proud of you, Lana." Angie went on before finally deciding to add the final nail to the coffin. "You put the company before yourself and now-"

"Shut up! Just SHUT UP!" Lana shouted at the top of her lungs while jumping out of her chair causing her mother to drop her wine and fall silent.

A long while passed that would most likely have gone unbroken the entire trip, had Lana's father not stepped out of the cockpit.

"Lana?" He asked but saw the hard look in his daughter's eyes. He cleared his throat and moved the microphone of his headset away from his mouth. "You shouldn't yell at your mother."

"And why shouldn't I?!" Lana snapped. "This is obviously just a _phase_! It's not like I actually loved him! It's not like I wanted to be more than just friends with him!" Lana shouted as her eyes started to glisten and turn even redder. Her parents were left speechless and that only prompted the minx to pour out the rest of her shattered heart. "He meant so much to me and now I have to leave him in the arms of another woman, and all you or _Mother_ care about is quite obvious! The company is obviously the golden child. The shareholders who get more attention from you then I ever did, and the bastard corporate executives that undress me, leer at me, and eye fuck me at every damn banquet are more important than I ever was!"

Once more the shuttle fell silent, save the small sniffles of the minx who was trying her damnedest not to cry. Try as she might, she couldn't help it. Xavier shifted around while Angie seemed to be sobering up by the second watching her daughter cry.

"Lana-" Angie began standing up but was stopped.

"I… I have to go." Lana whispered and headed towards the door.

"Lana wait!" Her parents said together but Lana ignored them and rushed out of the shuttle.

She didn't stop until she was running across the flight line. She was careful to stay away from any shuttles or ships prepping for launch and made a B line towards the airport lobbies, all the while ignoring her parents' pleas to stop. When she entered the lobbies she quickly made her way to the exit. She had no idea where she was going; she just wanted to get away from everything. She doubted she could explain it if she was asked. It was like her whole world had been conspiring against her from the start, wanting to take everything from her. For all the misdeeds she had done in the past, she was still a person and could only handle so much reprimanding.

When she was out of the airport she simply chose a random direction and kept running. For miles and miles she ran, not once being too fatigued to stop. She had no need to stop as she had been running for years, but not just physically. She needed a way out, an escape, but fleeing to Zoness with her parents had suddenly become such a horrible option, if not worse than staying on Corneria.

'_I just want to get away; I want all of this to end!'_ Lana thought as another tear fell and landed when she was already several feet away. _'I can't keep living like this, living with myself and all the pain I cause. My friends, my parents… my loves… all bearing scars because of me.'_

Nearly an hour and nine miles later the minx finally began to tire and came to a stop. She opened her eyes for what felt like the first time since her run began and found where she was. Her legs began to quiver, but not because they were tired.

'_He's in there… but why am _I_ here?'_ Lana thought as she stared at the Mahoney residence.

She had come to a crossroad, perhaps the most important decision of her young life.

She wanted to go to him, to leap into his arms and beg for forgiveness even if she didn't know how he would react. He'd probably reject her, yell at her, scream until his voice was coarse about what a bitch she was for betraying him, that is _if_ she made it past Chloe who was most likely already out for her blood. Still, something inside of her was telling her to try and perhaps the smallest chance in Hell would pull through.

If she didn't go to him and took the other route however, she knew it wouldn't be a long road. She had nothing left now. No friends, no home, not even parents that cared more for her than a company, and especially no human who was the one person who seemed to understand her and always make her happy.

'_No one would care if I was gone. I have no friends, my parents would finally be able to focus fully on themselves and the company, and… _he_ would be happy that I was… dead.'_

The crossroad was reached and the next step decided it all. Would she walk up to his door, risk hurting him and herself once again in the slightest chance he would forgive her and take her back, or remove herself from everyone's lives; never allowing herself to hurt anyone ever again.

Truly, it was a choice of life and death.

Her heart pounded in her chest, air quickly entering and leaving her body creating white clouds that wavered in the harsh winter wind. It was such an easy decision but so important. Her tail sagged and her ears drooped.

Lana knew it was wrong and selfish of her, but she walked forward anyway.

The minx reached the door but once again hesitated, she could still back out, she could still run away and leave him be.

'_I have to see him… just one last time…'_ Lana thought as she lifted her paw and knocked on the hard wood door.

Her heartbeat set to rapid-fire as she waited. Her only hope was that it wouldn't be Chloe to answer the door, but fate wasn't that kind.

"You're back already, Jay-Jay?" Came the woman's voice from behind the door before it was opened. "I thought you'd be at least-"

All at once the panther stopped as she saw the sight before her. The minx was a hot mess, her hair was frazzled, her fur matted, her makeup smudged, and her tail looked like it was hanging by a thread. A brief flash of pity held sway of the panther before anger engulfed her.

This little bitch before her broke her son's heart and put him through Hell. She had to pay and dearly.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She hissed slowly closing in on her.

"I…" Lana said looking down at the ground. "I came to see Relics-"

"Why?!" Chloe snapped making the minx flinch with fear. "So you can walk all over his heart again? Go away you little slut, and take your black heart with you before I hurt you as bad as you hurt him!"

"Please." Lana whispered so desperately that it actually stayed the woman's fist and claws. It was truly a desperate plea, like how someone would plea if they were dying of thirst and hunger. Chloe could tell Lana wasn't acting even if there weren't rivers of tears coursing down the minx's face. "Please… I have to see him."

Chloe was growling deeply in her throat, ready to make a mess of the teenaged bitch all over the concrete of her driveway but paused to ask.

"Why?"

Lana swallowed and looked into the panther's eyes catching Chloe off guard. There was so much despair and pain in them; it was hard not to feel sorry for the broken young woman.

"I have to apologize to him… for all I've done." The young woman sobbed. "I just have to before I… leave."

Chloe blinked as she stared into the eyes that she could see why had so easily won her son's love. There was such a strange way to how the minx said leave that the feline knew that she didn't mean it in any way that was good.

"What do you mean leave? Are you running to Zoness with your mommy and daddy?" Chloe asked, not nearly as fiercely as she had been before.

"No… just leave." Lana admitted.

The panther's jaw clenched as she realized just what the minx meant, there was no doubt in her mind. Even though Chloe hated her for what she did, she hesitated from casting her out. At one time she meant so much to Relics; he talked the world over about her and wanted nothing more than to be with her. It might not have made sense at the moment, but the panther couldn't help herself.

"He's not here… but you can wait for him if you want." Chloe said stepping aside, allowing Lana entrance.

The ignored her fear of the hostile panther and stepped into her den. She shivered as the scent of the human touched her nose while also raising her hopes. It reminded her of the times before all this mess, the times where everything was relatively perfect, and they both waited on batted breath for the other to confess their feelings.

Chloe closed the door behind the minx and then grabbed her by the arm, forcibly chauffeuring her to the living room. Lana obeyed the firm, but non-painful grasp of the panther all the way to the couch.

"Sit." Chloe commanded like she was a common pet on Earth, which Lana obeyed. The minx gazed up at the feline with worried and nervous eyes, further putting Chloe off. There was a reason Relics fell in love with her and her red wine colored eyes, and Chloe was seeing it firsthand. Her eyes were so powerful, so beautiful and red that it was hard to believe they were not gems and just eyes.

"Tea?" Chloe asked sitting down on the couch across from Lana's.

Lana shook her head.

"Biscuit?"

Again Lana shook her head.

"Ass kicking?"

"Not if I can help it." Lana mewled, wishing she'd have said yes to some tea.

"Then have some tea." Chloe said motioning to the kettle and two cups out.

Lana wondered to herself why there were two cups when Chloe was the only one home. Was she expecting someone, or was she really that good of a hostess? Whatever the reason, Lana started pouring a cup for herself and Chloe. When she was done she put the kettle down, took a cup, handed it to Chloe, and then took her own.

For several long minutes Lana sipped at the steaming tea, relieved by the warmth it gave her by drinking it. After a while, Chloe felt she had milked her stone cold silent treatment.

"So why did you do it?"

Lana's ears drooped and she was forced to look into the jungle cat's lavender eyes.

"I didn't want to." Lana admitted.

"Really?" Chloe said with absolute skepticism in her voice. "Is that why you were wrapping your tongue around that fox boy's at school in front of him?"

"I never-" Lana began, completely outraged at the very idea that she'd let that artic fox's tongue even past her lips, let alone lap against hers. She instantly calmed down as she knew it was in her best interest to remain docile and submissive around the panther with bristling fur.

"Did you even like him? Did I waste my time practically laying out the 'dumb bitch proof' way of making him yours?" Chloe asked as a deep growl of a jungle cat toned her voice.

"No! I do love him! I was going to do it but then those boys and then Brice showed up out of nowhere and forced me to play along, and-"

"Oh stop!" Chloe interrupted. "Don't try to play me with that bullshit!"

"But it's true!" Lana pressed on even though she knew that Brice would be furious. "He showed up right after I told Relics I had to stay away from him for his own good. I don't know who he really is or who he works for… but he told me…" Lana tried to say but the fear was starting to get to her. The sheer emotion and sincerity of her words were enough to convince Chloe to at least listen.

"He told me that he would kill my parents _and_ Relics if I ever told anyone we weren't really dating." Lana finished, her heart hammering loudly in her ears as if Brice was in the other room.

Chloe's tail tip began to rise and slowly come down like it was tapping the armrest of her chair. Somehow Lana had piqued her interest and a small bit of concern. Her sorry sob story was rather believable simply because of how well she was telling it. Either Lana was one of the world's greatest liars, or she was telling the truth.

The panther sighed. "So he's holding you hostage? Why? How? Just have your parents hire some hit-men and-"

"That won't stop him or his plans." Lana interrupted on the verge of tears now.

"Why? What is he, a Venomian super soldier or something?" Chloe asked but Lana had fallen silent. All the doubt had left the feline for this moment, and Chloe leaned in close to the minx. "Lana, you can tell me. My husband is in the military, he and I can both protect you _and_ Relics. All you have to do is tell me what he is, and what his plans are."

Lana looked into Chloe's eyes and opened her mouth.

"Brice… he… he's planning to-"

A sudden loud knocking on the door nearly scared the life out of Lana. She jumped in the air out of her chair and all of her fur stood on end.

"He's here! He's going to kill Relics!" Lana mewed.

Chloe stood up with a bat in her hand, seemingly coming from nowhere. She put a finger to the minx's lips and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Calm down. It's probably just my husband. Brice doesn't even know that you're here." Chloe reassured the minx before walking over to the door.

Chloe put her hand to the handle, adjusting her grip on the bat so she could better cave in the skull of a nosy paparazzi or god forbid, Lana's stalker. Ready to cave in whoever's skull, Chloe opened the door, only to find another ragged soul on her doorstep.

"Fox!? What are you-" She began but noticed the tear tracks running down his face and the even worse condition he was in than Lana was. His fur was a horrid mess, his tail looked like there was no life in it, and his ears were practically hanging off his head.

"Is Relics here?" He asked, his voice hollow and clearly without any soul left in it.

A clash of thunder rolled off in the distance. Chloe heard a frightened mew behind her but ignored the thunderstruck minx for the moment. The McCloud family had always been great friends with the Mahoneys, especially since James McCloud had been Jason's mentor back when James was still military. Chloe had known Fox for a few years, and was so relieved when Relics and he became friends. She liked Fox, he was smart, a good kid, and definite cougar bait. Why he was at her doorstep now, looking half alive and looking for Relics as well was beside her.

"No dear, he's at the bank with Jason but he'll be back in a minute." Chloe cooed to the vulpine. "Please, come inside."

"I have to see him." Fox said rooted to his spot.

"He'll be back shortly, dear. Just come inside and sit down, I'll get you something to eat. You look famished." Chloe said stepping out and escorting the distant vulpine into her warm home.

Lana waited in suspense to see who was at the door. She'd have known if her ears were perked towards the door but they were busy being pinned frightened to her the top of her head. Her frantically beating heart was spared the shock of seeing Brice, but when she saw Fox she knew she wasn't that much better off. Fox had kicked her out of the pack just two weeks ago, and she doubted he'd tolerate her presence.

Chloe led the vulpine into the living room before padding off to the kitchen to fetch him something warm. She hadn't been gone for more than ten seconds before Fox realized Lana was in the room. Immediately he began to growl menacingly and gave her the ugliest look he could make with his beautiful, but at times, fierce green eyes. Lana shivered as she had only seen that look on his face once, and that was when he kicked Wolf out of the pack several months ago.

"What are _you_ doing here?" He growled.

Lana started to step back as the fox's growling became vicious. Something was wrong with the vulpine and it seemed he was about to take it out on her.

"I'm… I'm here to see Relics." She meekly answered, wishing Chloe would hurry back.

"You have no right. You aren't allowed to see him anymore!" Fox snapped.

"I have to, and I will." Lana proclaimed defiantly despite knowing it would rile the vulpine up when she knew it was a bad idea.

Almost immediately Fox jumped out his chair and looked like he was about to hit the minx. His claws were drawn and his strong muscular body was twitching as if it was fighting itself before fighting her. Fox was not in any sense, a bad guy. He didn't believe in violence but would never run from it, and Lana had known him to _never_ strike a woman or lay his hands on one for that matter.

Fox's growls began to subside and he opened his muzzle as if to talk but Chloe came back with another cup of tea and some sweet smelling treats.

"Sit down, Fox-darling." The motherly affectionate feline purred as she saw him back into his chair. She set the tray she was carrying down and sat next to the vulpine. "Lana," She said to the minx with a far less loving tone, "go… sit in the kitchen, I'll be back to you later."

The gentle hybrid didn't need telling twice since she wanted to get away from the hostile vulpine and his deep, judging and savagely green eyes. Once she was gone the panther got very cozy next to the rather cold to the touch vulpine. It was as if his thick orange coat of fur was turned off and he was left naked and furless.

'_I wonder if this is how Relics feels sometimes. How all humans feel.'_ Chloe thought, feeling sorry for the naked species. _'I bet they'd all feel better with a fur of their own to keep them warm. Too bad the furs that they like most betray them.'_

"Fox, is everything all right?" She mewed as her slender tail wrapped around his waist.

"No. I need to see Relics." Fox replied coldly.

Chloe cocked an eyebrow at his strange behavior. Fox was such a strong young man, just like his father, and seeing him so broken and fragile was discerning to say in the least. For what reason did he need to see Relics though? They _were_ good friends but he had a lot of other friends he'd known much longer.

"He'll be back soon. He and Jason went to the Garfield Memorial Bank. Eat, please." Chloe said reaching for one of the treats and holding it close to his muzzle for easier access.

"I'm not hungry." Fox said as politely as he could.

"Okay… what's wrong sweetheart?" Chloe asked inching closer to the vulpine.

Fox didn't respond at first and instead wondered if he should tell her. She was going to find out sooner or later, he just didn't want to acknowledge the fact. It had only been two hours since that commander in the military and also family friend showed up on their doorstep and gave them the news.

"Chloe…" Fox spoke up but his voice cracked. His throat started to hurt and his eyes stung from the salt in his tears. "My dad… he's…"

Fox didn't have to finish. Chloe knew what it was like to have someone she loved in constant danger. It ate her up inside, and she knew that Fox and his family carried that same fear for James. She was fortunate enough to not know the agony of losing the one she loved, but she could see Fox and his family knew the pain of their realized fears.

Taking the distraught young man into her arms with a motherly compassion, she managed to catch him just before the tears began. Chloe brought his wetting face into her and her expensive blouse, not giving a damn for it, just for the vulpine. Even at his weakest, Fox was trying to be strong and stop himself but it was no use.

For several minutes he wept into the woman's blouse, allowing himself to be vulnerable with someone he didn't know too well. For the last few hours he'd held it all in and it helped to curve the pain, but the few minutes of crying were just the first. Before long however, the fox had managed to pull a bit of himself back together thanks to the compassionate woman.

Fox pulled away, his eyes red around his glimmering green irises.

"Thank you." He whispered, voice coarse and scratchy.

"You're very welcome, sweetheart. I'm so very, very sorry." Chloe mewed while rubbing Fox's back, sharing his pain. "What about your mother? Your sister? Where are they?"

"Mom and Sherry are heading to Papetoon now… they went with Beltino on his ship. Sherry's too young and doesn't understand but Mom… Mom's taking it so much harder than I am." Fox told the panther.

"What about you? Aren't you going with them?" Chloe asked, knowing that she would have to go to Papetoon to console the grieving widow in her time of need.

"They're safe now. That's all that matters." Fox replied rather shortly to someone who had let him ruin a two hundred credit blouse.

"Okay, Fox." Chloe said and pulled her tail back but felt something behind the vulpine as she did.

She wasn't sure but whatever it was, it was cold, hard, and well hidden.

"You're sitting on something." Chloe stated as she reached to grab whatever it was. "Let me just get it-"

Fox immediately jumped up off the couch, his padded gray jacket bulging in the back only for a moment. Chloe glanced at the couch and found that whatever she felt wasn't there anymore. Her suspicious eyes turned to Fox who wasn't making eye contact, in fact he looked like he was avoiding it all together.

"It was probably just my credit chit." Fox said holding out an object far too small to be what her tail felt.

If it were anyone else she'd have called him out on it, but the young man just lost a father and didn't need her interrogating him. She let it slide, for his sake.

"Okay. Do you still want to see Relics, Dear?" Chloe asked to which Fox nodded since his voice was still cracking every now and again like he had started puberty all over again. The panther dialed her husband's phone and waited for the rather annoying call waiting song to end.

"Hey this is Jason Mahoney, kind of busy right now but I'll get back to you when I can." The recording of her husband's deep voice said to her making the panther's ear twitch. What was weird though was Jason always answered his phone, even when he was driving and probably shouldn't.

"He didn't pick up… but he should be back from the Garfield Memorial bank any- Fox? Where are you going?" Chloe asked chasing after the speeding fox who was heading towards the door.

The panther chased after the fox and barred herself in front of the door just as he reached out for it.

"Fox! I can't let you leave; you're in no state to be alone right now." Chloe insisted. "Stay here with me. Relics will be back soon and we'll both take care of you."

By now Lana couldn't stand to wait in the kitchen alone anymore. She caught wind of a few words here and there, but she'd heard enough to grow concerned for the vulpine. He might hate her, but she still liked and respected the fox. Slowly she snuck out of the kitchen and hid behind a corner, her foxy ears perked towards the front door.

"Chloe, I can't stay here waiting for Relics. I need to get to him right now." Fox explained but Chloe didn't budge.

"Why? Why can't you wait here?"

"I can't… I can't tell you." Fox struggled to say.

Lana slowly peeked around the corner and saw Fox towering over Chloe. He didn't look like he was being threatening, he was just so tall. The minx was just about to pull her head back and scamper back to the kitchen before she was caught, but then she saw the bulge in the small of his back. Instantly her minx intuition started throwing up red flags and her heart began to race.

'_What is that? What is he hiding? Why is he here instead of with his family? Why is he trying to get to Relics so desperately? …Is he going to-'_ Lana thought just as Fox made his way past Chloe and out the front door.

The panther was helpless to stop him and could only watch him go, but Lana wasn't. The minx tore out the front door like a tan blur right past Chloe. Just as Fox reached his car Lana called out to him.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you!?"

The vulpine stopped mid motion. A cold winter breeze snuck up on him, making the tall fox shiver before he looked into the red eyes of the minx. He let off a small growl at her but did not answer right away.

"No. Why would I want to kill him? He's my friend."

"Then what are you hiding behind your back?" Lana asked, calling him out.

The vulpine stiffened.

"Nothing."

Lana herself began growling and took small steps towards the fox, like she was prepping to pounce.

"I don't believe you. I think that you blame him and you want to kill him-"

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT!" Fox shouted at the top of his lungs.

Lana's heart skipped a beat as Fox barked at her. His muzzle was curled back and showing all his pointed white teeth. He made the minx yip with fright when he grabbed her by the shoulders. She could feel the strength in his arms, and he could snap her in half so easily if he wanted to. Yet strangely he was holding off, keeping himself from digging his claws into her, clamping down too hard, or even hitting her.

"Just shut your fucking whore mouth, Lana! You don't know what I'm thinking, you couldn't possibly know from inside your perfect little world! You know nothing, Lana Tress." Fox spat at the motionless minx and let her go, but he was the only thing keeping her up.

Her knees buckled and Lana started to fall but she managed to brace herself on Fox's car. She stared into his sharp green eyes. She felt in the wrong for questioning Fox, he and Relics were indeed friends and both Fox and Relics would never hurt their friends.

Only she did.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"That's all you are these days… a sorry excuse of a person."

Chloe grimaced at that remark. She didn't like Lana, in fact she was sitting on top of her shit list, but that comment was extremely hurtful. She did not expect that out of Fox, and she began to worry just how much it was hurting him and even changing him. When Fox looked to her she flinched and looked away for a second.

"Goodbye Chloe, thank you for… for your help." Fox said in earnest before getting into his car.

The feline quickly ran to the driver's side and opened the door.

"Fox, I'm not letting you go alone." Chloe said, knowing that being alone truly was the last thing that Fox needed right now, even if he was with someone he didn't want to be with. "That's why if you're leaving, Lana and I are coming with you."

Fox opened his mouth to protest, but he knew that he wasn't going to win. He'd only known Chloe for a few years, but he knew that she was an alpha like him, a take charge sort of person and would not accept no for an answer.

'_No sense in arguing, I can ditch them later.'_

"All right, but let's hurry." Fox said and turned on the engine of his nineteen sixty-seven black Chevy Impala.

Chloe got in on the passenger side, leaving Lana to get in the back. As hard a tongue lashing Fox gave her, she still was not convinced that Relics was safe around Fox. She kept thinking of Fox shooting Relics and knew she could not let that happen, even if she had to fight and hurt people again.

The drive through the city was quick and without traffic. It seemed that nobody wanted to get caught in the potential storm hanging over the city. With hardly any traffic on the road, they made it to the bank in less than ten minutes.

"Just hang a left here, Fox." Chloe said, knowing the quickest and shortest way to the bank. "We should be able to see their… what the Hell?!"

The street outside of the bank was flooded with cops, swat teams and there were patrolman out keeping the public away from the perimeter. Fox tried to turn into the street but a patrolman put himself in the way of the car and started waving him away.

"You can't come this way. Turn around for your own safety or we'll remove you with force." The officer said walking around to Fox's side of the car.

"What's going on here officer?" Fox asked as if he wasn't warned he'd be physically removed if he didn't remove himself.

"I'm not authorized to tell you, nor are you to know." The feline said as he slowly started reaching for the gun at his hip but did not touch it quite yet.

As the officer was speaking a whole new convoy of military vehicles flew in overhead and landed on the street next to the bank. Droves of soldiers, heavily armed and armored, jumped out of the transport vehicles and took positions all around the bank. Many of them set up against the walls of the bank, ready to barge in once the order was given. Chloe and Lana were both watching this all take place and a hole started to grow in both of their stomachs.

"Now please remove yourself before I-"

"Officer! Officer please! My husband and son are in there, can you at least tell me if they are all right?" Chloe asked leaning over Fox to make herself and the fear in her eyes seen to the patrolman.

"I can't, I-" He began before a gunshot and someone started screaming at the top of their lungs stopped all motion within a two block's radius.

All eyes were pulled towards the source of the scream. A man was falling from on top of the bank but it was impossible to see who it was as he tumbled through the air. His screaming was horrible to listen to; it was the screams of pain and realization that death was upon him all mixed into one. It was so loud that it made the trio in the car's ears twitch with discomfort. Fortunately though, his screaming did not last too long and his body made contact with the ground.

The large crowd of curious onlookers screamed as they realized someone had just died. Somewhere an order was given and the soldiers charged inside the bank.

"There's someone else on the roof!" Someone shouted and caught Fox, Chloe and Lana's ear just as Fox put the car in reverse.

Anyone still not transfixed by the corpse on the ground looked back up to the roof of the bank and saw a man staring of the edge of the large bank. In his hand he carried a rifle had it pointed up into the sky. He made no move to take aim at anyone; he only stared down at the man he had flung from the rooftops.

Fox, Chloe, and Lana were all left in a state of utter shock. They could see the man on top of the roof clearly from where they were at, as well as the dead man on the ground. A Rottweiler lay on the ground in a bloody mess while an alien stared down at him.


End file.
